Code Geass: Re-Vision
by 1000 Cherry Blossoms
Summary: A 'What if' scenario. What if Charles sent Euphemia to Japan as a political hostage along with Lelouch and Nunnally? What if Naoto, Kallen's older brother didn't die? What if there were more changes to the storyline than the ones mentioned above? Have I piqued your interest and curiosity? Hopefully I won't disappoint.
1. When a Demon Is Born

{Pendragon Imperial Palace, 2009 ATB}

"Euphie, you mustn't do this!"

Euphie, who was a girl long, pink, straight hair and purple eyes whirled around to face the one who told her this. It was an older woman who had purple hair and matching eyes, and from the tone of her voice, the younger girl could easily tell that the purple-haired woman was very concerned about what she was about to do. The older woman was surprised as she looked at Euphie's eyes; they were narrowing not only in determination, but also in anger.

"Don't try to stop me, Sister Cornelia," Euphie told her sister sternly. "I just can't stand by and watch as my siblings are sent to a foreign land as bargaining tools," She then clenched her hand tightly to her chest. "Especially not after Lady Marianne's death, their mother!" The small pink-head turned back; her eyes blazing in determination once more. "I'm sorry, Cornelia, but no matter what you say, you can't stop me."

Cornelia then ran in front of her sister and put her hands on her shoulders. "Please, Euphemia! Don't do this!" She begged once more. "What if His Majesty sends you to Japan as well?!"

"Then at the very least, I'll be with my siblings," She replied while smiling. "They won't be alone."

"But what about me?"

"If you really care about them, then help me in convincing His Majesty to not send Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan."

"I can't…" The older woman admitted sadly and fearfully; her body started trembling as she looked down. "I can't go against His Majesty's orders."

"I see." Euphie simply said before she continued walking to the throne room.

"Presenting her Royal Highness the Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, Princess Euphemia li Britannia!" Announced one of the guards as the doors of the room opened, revealing the young princess.

The room was huge. Many nobles were gathered in the hall to see what will the young princess seek from her father, the Emperor. Said man, who was large, wearing a white-colored wig and had dark purple eyes was sitting on his throne that was located on the top of a platform. A set of stairs were connected to it. The pink-haired princess walked confidently and determinedly on the red carpet that extended all the way to the throne. She then stopped in front of the stairs, looking at the Emperor without any hint of fear.

"Hail, Your Majesty," She greeted the Emperor. "I came to request a favor from you."

"A favor, you say?" He asked, not the least bit surprised by her slightly defiant tone. "And what might that favor be?"

"I request of you to not send my siblings Prince Lelouch vi Britannia and Princess Nunnally vi Britannia to Japan as bargaining tools."

While there were gasps in the crowd of nobles, they were overwhelmed by the sounds of whispers, so Euphie didn't hear them, not like she cared about either of them anyway. They were stunned and shocked at the audacity of the young princess. When did she become so bold? Did that boldness come from the fact that she doesn't want her siblings to be used as bargaining chips? Or was it because of the influence her brother Lelouch had on her? Or was it both?

The Emperor, on the other hand was surprisingly unmoved. His face remained firm and stern as he continued to look down at his young daughter. "And why is that?"

"It does not seem fair to me," She replied bluntly. "Their mother, Lady Marianne vi Britannia was just murdered in front of their eyes and Nunnally was crippled in the process," She pointed out to him before her eyes glared fiercely at her father. "And because of that, you called her a weakling whose only use is as a bargaining tool for Sakuradite alongside Lelouch." Her expression now softened considerably. "How can you do this, Father? Is maintaining the title of the most powerful nation in the world more important to you than your own children?" She was on the verge of tears as she asked these questions.

The Emperor, finally becoming irritated by his daughter's whining, shouted at her. "You know the answer to that question very well, Euphemia!" He then proceeded to descend down the stairs, causing his daughter to back away a little. "As I have told Lelouch before, this is the price of royalty."

Euphemia's eyes widened before she glared once more at her father with all the loathing and hatred she could muster. "And like Lelouch had said before: I give up my claim to the throne!" She shouted, causing the nobles to gasp once more, but this time, almost all of them gasped, and again she did not care. "And if you're going to repeat your speech about me being dead from the moment I was born and how you have provided to me all of those luxuries, then spare you breath!" She shrieked again. "I have already heard you telling that to Lelouch so there's no need to repeat yourself!"

He gritted his teeth in anger before he descended down the stairs swiftly. "EUPHEMIA!" He screamed her name before his large hand grabbed his daughter's neck. His grip wasn't strong enough to strangle her, however.

The small girl gasped and tears gathered in her eyes once more as she struggled to free herself from her father's grip. The nobles were just shocked at what was happening before their eyes, but none of them dared to do anything about it. That included the guards as well.

Suddenly, the doors of the throne room burst open to reveal a young boy with short, raven hair and violet eyes. His eyes narrowed in shock at the sight before him. He gritted his teeth in anger before charging towards the Emperor. "STOP IT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Leave Euphie alone!"

The ruler of the most powerful nation on Earth noticed the young boy running towards him before flinging his daughter at the boy, who caught her. She sobbed on his chest. "Lelouch… I'm sorry…"

His eyes glimmered sadly at the sight of his sister crying shakily in his arms before that glimmer got replaced by a hateful glare aimed towards the Emperor. "How dare you!"

The towering man said nothing as he gave his back to his children and walked on the stairs. "Guards, take these impudent children away," He ordered. "And also, prepare Euphemia's belongings for she will be sent off to Japan as a bargaining tool with Lelouch and Nunnally."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" As the guards dragged the young prince and princess away, the former's eyes widened in shock at that announcement. He gave his father one last glare before turning away.

Outside, they were met by Cornelia, who quickly knelt to check on her sobbing sister.

"Euphie! Are you alright?!" She asked frantically. "What happened?!"

She sobbed, but despite that, she managed a shaky smile. "I'm going to Japan with Lelouch and Nunnally…" She responded through her tears. "They won't be alone there after all, Cornelia…"

"What?!" The older sister asked in shock and disbelief.

"I'm happy that I got to go with them…"

Cornelia hugged her sister tightly. "Oh Euphie…" She cried as well.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Cornelia?" Lelouch deadpanned.

The purple-haired princess looked at Lelouch. "Lelouch… Euphie… I promise you that I will bring you all back to the homeland," She told them. "Just give me more time to gather soldiers that will help me in retrieving you."

"I see," His deadpan did not crack. "I'm counting on you, Cornelia." He stated before walking past his sister.

For some reason, the older princess felt as if he wasn't quite happy with what she told him…

* * *

**When a Demon is Born**

{Ashford Academy, March 21st 2017 ATB}

"Euphemia! Your phone is ringing!" A female voice shouted.

"Huh?!" The now teenaged pink-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at her phone before picking it up. "Hello, Rivalz?"

_"Seriously, Euphemia?!"_ The boy known as Rivalz shouted on the phone, causing her to flinch. _"This is the third time this week!"_

She scratched her head in embarrassment. "Sorry, Rivalz."

_"Anyway, I've called to tell you that I've lost Lelouch."_

Euphie raised an eyebrow in confusion and worry. "What do you mean 'you've lost Lelouch'?"

_"Well, you see, when we were on our way back to school, a truck almost ran us over," _He replied to her, causing her to gasp. _"But don't worry! The truck actually crashed into a building that is still under construction, and your brother decided to play hero and went to help the people in the truck… and that's how I lost him."_

"Oh my," She said worriedly. "Haven't you tried to contact him?"

_"Yes, but it seems_ _that wherever he is, the signal is either very weak or there is no signal at all."_

"Well, since he was trying to help the people in the truck, he may have gotten in there and didn't come out." Worry washed over her face once again at that possibility.

_"You think so? Because I saw the truck speeding away to the ghettos."_

"What?!" She asked in disbelief.

_"Yeah," _He confirmed, becoming worried as well. _"Should I tell Madame President about this?"_

"No. We shouldn't concern the Prez and the others about Lelouch."

_"Well, how about telling the police?"_

"NO!" She shouted frantically before realizing that. "I mean, there's no need for that, Rivalz."

_"Are you serious?!" _He shrieked. _"If the ones who drove the truck went to the ghettos, then that means they're Eleven terrorists!" _He proclaimed. _"Are you sure you don't want the police to look into this matter, Euphemia?"_

She has her own reasons for that, of course. If the police went to look for Lelouch and eventually found him, they may recognize him as the Britannian prince who was thought to be dead for seven years, Lelouch vi Britannia. This will cause problems as Lelouch did not want to be recognized and thus might be forced back into the Royal Family.

Not only that, but if the police found out that a Britannian student got lost in one of the ghettoes, they may turn it upside down in order to find him, something that neither her brother nor her wanted to happen.

"No, I don't," She replied. "I'm sure Lelouch can take care of himself."

_"Really, Euphemia?" _He asked incredulously. _"I mean, you and I know very well that Lelouch SUCKS at physical activities."_

"I know, but…" She sighed, getting tired of arguing with the boy. "Please, Rivalz. Don't tell anyone about this. If Madame Prez asked you or anyone from the Student Council about Lelouch, tell her that he ditched you."

Rivalz actually chuckled at that. _"Yeah, that sounds like something Lelouch would do," _He stated. _"Alright then. We won't tell anyone about this."_

She smiled. "Thank you, Rivalz." She then hung up the phone before sighing again. "Lelouch, I hope you won't involve yourself in something dangerous."

"Euphemia! We'll be ready for rehearsal in one minute!" A male voice announced.

"Coming!" She ran to the stage.

* * *

{Somewhere in the Tokyo Settlement}

Lelouch didn't know how to feel about his current situation. First, a truck almost ran him and Rivalz over, and then it crashed into an under-construction building. When he climbed the ladder of the truck to help the people inside, he heard a voice call out to him, a voice belonging to a woman. The driver apparently regained his consciousness and immediately sped off, causing the boy to fall in the back of the truck. Unfortunately, there was no ladder to climb out, so he remained there until someone opened the door to the back of the truck and entered. His eyes widened in shock at the person he saw. It was a girl who looked like she was the same age as himself. She had a red hair that was spiked up and blue eyes.

_K-Kallen…? _He thought in shock as he watched her remove the white jacket she was wearing. _B-but how…? Why is she working with some terrorists?!_

He remained hidden as he watched the girl he had identified as Kallen remove a white cloth from something. That thing was revealed to be a red machine that looked somewhat outdated.

_Is that a Glasgow? _He asked himself, still stunned from the fact that Kallen is working with terrorists. _Is she going to pilot that thing?!_

That turned out to be true as the redhead entered the machine known as Glasgow. His shock increased as he watched her attack a helicopter with a hook-like object that was attached to a black wire, get out of the truck and into the street and engage a more powerful-looking purple machine.

When the other machine overwhelmed Kallen's Glasgow, he looked visibly worried about her. _Kallen...__  
_

* * *

{Ashford Academy}

Euphemia stretched her body after exiting the drama club building. The rehearsal on the song was better than last time, and that made her really happy. This musical is one of her all time favorites, and so she wanted to perform the best she could in it.

Euphie then saw an orange-haired girl with olive eyes approaching her. "Hi Shirley!" She greeted happily. "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah," The girl known as Shirley replied while frowning. "Can you believe that Lulu ditched Rivalz and made him come all the way back by himself?" She asked in irritation. "And then when I tried to call him, he immediately hung up."

Euphie's eyes widened in surprise; since Shirley was able to contact him, then that means he was in a place where there was a signal. _But where could he have ended up in? _She thought to herself. _I hope he's not in one of the ghettoes._

"Euphie," Shirley called. "Are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" The pink-haired girl snapped her head to the orange-haired girl before regaining her composure. "I don't know, Shirley. I'll contact him in a while."

"You better do!" The other girl huffed. "Seriously, Euphie. Your brother is smart yet he wastes that gift on stupid things like gambling."

Euphie smiled nervously. "Well, that's Lelouch for you."

Shirley sighed. "Anyway, I have to get ready for my swimming practice now," She stated. "If your brother keeps skipping classes like that, he's gonna get expelled."

She smiled sheepishly. "Obviously."

* * *

{Shinjuku Ghetto}

The former prince of the Holy Britannian Empire didn't know if this day was the worst or best day of his life… well, in terms of the worst day, nothing can top _that _day, so this day has won the silver medal for the worst day of his life. In other words, it is the second worst day of his life. However, at the same time, it had also won the gold medal for the best day of his life.

It is the second worst day of his life for the following reasons: He almost got ran over by a truck that he later found out was a terrorist truck; Kallen, a girl he knew was working with these terrorists; the truck driver made it to the Shinjuku ghetto; he had a very short-lived reunion with his childhood best friend, who became a Britannian soldier and then was shot dead by the Royal Guard's captain; the capsule that the terrorists have stolen actually contained a girl with green hair and golden eyes (His best friend told him that it contained poisonous gas according to what his superiors told him), the Viceroy ordered a purge of the Shinjuku ghetto and it was all because of that girl, and finally the Royal Guard caught him and it was all because of his cell phone ringing at the worst possible time… and also, the girl protected him by taking the bullet that was meant for him in the middle of her forehead.

BUT, it is also the best day of his life for one and ONLY one reason: He had gained an incredible power known as Geass.

"Say, how should a Britannian who hates his own country live his life?" He asked the Royal Guard while covering his left eye.

"What? Are you a radical?" The captain asked back.

"What's the matter?" Lelouch began, ignoring the captain. "Why don't you shoot? After all, your opponent is just a schoolboy… or have you finally realized that the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed?" He removed his hand away from his eye, revealing a maroon-colored iris with a bird sigil in it.

The captain's hand trembled after seeing that. "W-what's that…?"

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you…" He said, swiping his left arm to the left side. "All of you… obey me without a question!"

The sigil mark flew from his eye and into the eyes of the Royal Guard. At once, red rings surrounded their irises. The captain put his hand on his breast and bowed; his subordinates doing the same. "With pleasure, Your Highness!"

The former prince's eyes widened before grinning devilishly. With this amazing power, he'll be able to achieve his long-awaited goal: To obliterate Britannia, the very country that abandoned him and his sisters in a foreign land and waged a war on this nation one year later, not caring whether him and his sisters were dead or alive.

He looked at the members of the Royal Guard; their expressions showed that they were completely under his control. "I want you to look for Sutherlands," He began his command. "Once you do, use them to engage Britannian forces. Help the resistance group and do whatever it takes to defeat them. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" They all bowed once more before running off.

_Excellent, _Lelouch remarked with a smirk. _This will make the Britannians think that a group of terrorists got hold of Sutherlands, or if they were smart enough, they'll think that they were betrayed by their own comrades._

His train of thought was interrupted when the wall crashed, revealing a purple-colored Knightmare. _A Sutherland? _He raised an eyebrow before grinning. _Might as well steal a Sutherland for myself._

The pilot of the Sutherland was pleased that all of these 'filthy Elevens' were killed by their own forces. _Serves them right for killing Lady Marianne's children as well as their sister, Princess Euphemia. _He thought to himself gleefully.

However, behind the corpses of the Elevens stood a young man wearing a student uniform. The pilot zoomed on the young man to see his face. _He looks familiar… _He thought before uttering a gasp as realization hit him. _He can't be...! _The pilot wanted to make sure of something regarding this student. "What is a Britannian student doing in a place like this?!"

Lelouch did not reply, and this somewhat irritated the pilot. "I command you to get out of the Sutherland!" The boy ordered.

The Britannian soldier blinked; only members of the Royal Family had such a commanding tone. _Could he really be…? _"Alright then. I'll come out to make sure of something about you."

The raven-haired teen frowned; make sure of something about himself? What did the pilot mean by that? His eyes then widened in realization. _Is it possible that the pilot recognized me? _He thought frantically to himself. _Then that also means that the power doesn't work without direct eye contact! _Even though he was annoyed about this drawback regarding his newly acquired power, he knew that this is the least of his worries at the moment. If this Britannian soldier recognized him as an exiled prince of Britannia who was thought to be dead for seven years, then he will probably take him to the Viceroy and as a result, will be forced back into the Royal Family. He gritted his teeth in frustration; as soon as the pilot exits the Sutherland, he'll have to use his Geass so he could steal the Knightmare and hightail it out of here.

When the pilot exited the Knightmare, Lelouch saw that it was a man who looked like he was in his late twenties with turquoise-colored hair and orange eyes. Both men's eyes widened simultaneously as they recognized each other.

_Jeremiah… Gottwald?_

"Prince… Lelouch?" He uttered. "Is it really you…?" He could not believe his eyes.

Lelouch didn't say anything and just turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about," He replied. "And I can assure you that I am not a prince."

"You cannot fool me, Your Highness," He then knelt before the young prince. "Jeremiah Gottwald at your service, Your Highness."

He raised an eyebrow at that; as he recalled, Jeremiah Gottwald was a guard at Aries Palace, a guard of his mother. "Do you mean what you have said, Lord Jeremiah?"

The older man looked up, confused. "About what, my lord?"

"About serving me," He replied. "Will you really serve me, even if it means betraying Britannia and most importantly, the Emperor himself?"

The Britannian soldier's eyes widened in shock at the young prince's proposal. Is his prince going to lead a rebellion against his father and homeland?! "My Lord… if you don't mind, may I ask why are you going to betray your own father and country?"

"You really don't know, Jeremiah?"

"I'm afraid I do not know, My Lord."

Lelouch frowned. "My mother was killed in front of my eyes," He began, his eyes becoming stern. "Nunnally was crippled, the Emperor didn't do anything about Mother's death, called Nunnally a weakling and decided to send us both to Japan as political hostages," He clenched his fists. "Euphemia was the only one who stood up against the Emperor, but unfortunately for her, she was also sent to Japan with us."

The former guard smiled, finally understanding what his prince meant about leading a rebellion against Britannia. "I see," He nodded. "Emperor Charles and Britannia aren't the ones I serve," He admitted. "I have sworn my loyalty to only Lady Marianne and her children, and this is why I will follow you till the end, Prince Lelouch."

Lelouch smiled, quite pleased with the older man's answer. "Then rise, Jeremiah Gottwald and help me burn my father's empire, his beliefs and ideals to ashes."

Jeremiah did as he was told. "Yes, Your Highness."

**TBC…**

* * *

**Now if anyone is going to complain about Cornelia and Euphemia being a little OOC at the flashback scene, then all I have to tell you that this is an AU and a little OOC-ness won't hurt from now and then.**

**I didn't really want to repeat scenes from the anime, so I summed them in descriptions.**

**Thanks for taking your time to read. Hopefully you've enjoyed my story. Please leave a review if you will.**


	2. The Skirmish in the Shinjuku Ghetto

**Let me get this straight… I GOT FIFTEEN REVIEWS FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER?!**

** O.M.G I am so happy! :D**

* * *

{Kururugi Shrine, 2009 ATB}

Two young children were seen climbing a set of stairs; one of them was carrying a smaller child on his back. That child was a girl with wavy, sandy-brown hair and violet eyes. The older children were actually Lelouch and Euphemia. The prince looked visibly exhausted, and the pink-haired princess looked worried about him. "Big Brother," The youngest child called. "Are you alright?" Her tone indicated that she was also worried about him.

"What are you saying, Nunnally?" He asked back. "I'm fine."

Euphie knew that he was lying. "Lelouch, I can carry Nunnally."

He frowned at her. "Forget it!" He shouted. "It would be shameful if I let a girl do a man's work."

The pink-haired princess frowned irritatingly at that. "Lelouch, you're tired!" She shouted back. "Let us take turns in carrying Nunnally!"

"No, we won't!" He yelled. "And I still can keep going!"

"No, you can't!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Please you two, stop fighting!" The brunette shouted desperately; tears started to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry…" She apologized, her tears now running down her cheeks.

Both Lelouch and Euphemia looked at their younger sister sadly. They then looked down in shame; they made their sister upset.

"Nunnally," Euphie called. "What are you apologizing for? It's our fault for bickering."

"It's because… I can't walk anymore…" She sobbed. "Because of that, I made you two fight with each other…"

The older prince and princess' eyes widened in surprise at Nunnally's confession; that made them feel even sorrier.

"Nunnally… it's not your fault that you're unable to walk anymore," Lelouch assured his sister; his eyes becoming angry as he remembered their father.

"Yeah, Nunnally," Euphemia agreed. "Don't blame yourself for what happened," She then looked at Lelouch. "Lelouch, please. Let us take turns in carrying Nunnally."

The young prince sighed, finally giving in to his half-sister's pleading. "Fine," He put their crippled sister on Euphie's back. "But if I see a little hint of exhaustion from you, Euphie, I will immediately take Nunnally back."

"No problem." She agreed with a smile.

The two royals took turns in carrying their crippled sister until they reached the shrine. There was a wheelchair, so Lelouch put Nunnally on it. They saw a house that was somewhat shabby-looking, and deduced that it was where they're going to stay.

After a moment of silence, the crippled princess spoke. "What are we waiting for?" She asked them with a smile. "Let's go check it out already."

The other two didn't say anything and merely cast side glances at each other before Lelouch pushed Nunnally's wheelchair inside. The house looked old in the inside, like it wasn't used in a long time. Many sections of the house were dusty, and that annoyed the raven-haired prince. He had heard that the Japanese were respectful and hospitable people, so he assumed that they would prepare a proper place for himself and his sisters to stay in. But he shouldn't be surprised; after all, they were not guests. They were political hostages; in other words, bargaining chips.

"Well, well, well," Someone said, prompting them to look around the place for the source of the voice. "It seems our Britannian friends have arrived."

Lelouch stood protectively in front of his sisters. "Who's there?!" He demanded. "Show yourself!"

The mysterious person appeared before them; it was a young, Japanese boy with curly brown hair and forest green eyes. The prince glared heatedly at the boy. "Who are you?"

"My name is of no concern to you."

Lelouch frowned. "What do you want from us?"

"Nothing," He replied nonchalantly. "I just wanted to make sure that you're all comfortable in my old house."

The violet-eyed boy's frown deepened. "Well, thanks, but no thanks," He replied angrily. "We don't need your help."

"Too bad," He said coolly. "And here I thought we could become friends after your father ditched you in our country."

The young prince's eyes turned feral. "What did you say?!" He shouted angrily. "You better take that back or else!"

"I prefer 'or else'." The other boy replied casually.

"You've brought this on yourself!" Lelouch shouted before charging at the brown-haired boy, swinging his fist.

"Lelouch, no!" His sisters cried.

_Fool. _The Japanese boy grabbed the Britannian boy's fist, raised him above his head then threw him down on the ground with a thud.

"Lelouch!" His sisters cried again.

"How do you like that, stupid Brit?" The brown-haired boy kept on punching Lelouch.

"Stop it!" Euphie shouted as she also charged towards the boy.

The Japanese boy noticed her dashing towards him and pushed her to the ground. "Euphie!" Both Lelouch and Nunnally cried.

Suddenly, the door of the house flew open; a man and a small girl were seen standing there. "What is going on in here?" The man demanded. He then saw the young prince and princess on the ground. He rushed towards them to help them up. "Are you alright?" He offered his hand to Lelouch.

Lelouch looked at the hand for a moment before taking it. "Yes." He stood up.

He then went to Euphemia and did the same to her. Unlike her brother, she immediately took the hand and smiled. "Thank you."

The man nodded before turning to the brown-haired boy, a deep frown on his face. "Suzaku, is that a way to treat our guests?"

"But Tohdoh-sensei, they're political hostages, not guests!"

"Don't argue with me, young man," He said sternly. "Apologize to these children right now."

The boy named Suzaku made a small growl out of irritation before speaking. "I'm sorry." He then walked away.

The man known as Tohdoh sighed as he shook his head and then turned to the Britannian royals. "Forgive me for my student's attitude," He apologized. "He always acts like a brat towards people of other nationalities."

"Oh, no problem about that." Euphemia assured him.

He nodded before remembering something. "Pardon me for not introducing myself," He bowed to them. "My name is Kyoshiro Tohdoh."

"I'm Euphemia li Britannia, third princess of the Holy Empire of Britannia," She bowed in her own way as well. "These are my half-siblings, Lelouch vi Britannia and Nunnally vi Britannia."

The small girl who was standing near the door walked towards the royals and bowed as well. "Hello! I'm Kaguya Sumeragi. I hope we can become good friends."

Euphie smiled. "I'm sure we will."

"By the way, was that boy Suzaku Kururugi, Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi's son?" Lelouch asked.

Tohdoh nodded. "Indeed he is."

The young prince then turned to the direction where the Japanese boy ran off to, wondering if he's going to bully him and his sisters again…

* * *

**The Skirmish in the Shinjuku Ghetto**

{Shinjuku Ghetto, March 21st 2017 ATB}

Lelouch's phone started ringing. He looked at his phone and saw his sister's name. The boy braced himself for an earful. "Hello, Euphemia?"

_"LELOUCH!" _She shouted, causing her brother to flinch. It seems that his preparedness wasn't enough. _"Where are you?! Rivalz told me that you fell in a truck that headed to the ghettos!"_

The young prince's eyes widened. _Rivalz saw that?! _He thought before regaining his composure. "Yes, I did fall in the truck, but I managed to get out of it before it started running again." He lied.

_"Really?" _She asked; her tone indicated that she didn't believe him. _"Then why did you not come back to school yet?"_

He frowned; Euphie had always been observant and persistent, which made lying to her somewhat difficult. "You got me," He 'admitted'. "I went back to gambling."

_"Lelouch!" _She huffed angrily. _"When are you going to quit?!"_

"Did Shirley influence you that much?" He joked.

_"Shirley has every right to be angry with your gambling habits, Lelouch!" _She huffed. _"And I have more right than her since I am your sister!"_

He sighed in irritation while rubbing his temples. "Fine. I'll be back soon."

_"You better!" _She then hung up.

The former guard of Marianne vi Britannia remained silent during that whole exchange before clearing his throat. "You are gambling, my lord?"

The young prince smiled. "Yes."

"Let me guess: Chess?"

His smile widened. "What else could it be?" He asked rhetorically. "The foolish Nobles give a massive amount of cash when defeated." _Which is the whole time. _His smile turned into a smirk.

Jeremiah shook his head. "And why are you gambling?"

"I'm just doing it for living and to ease my boredom." His response was casual.

"May I ask where are you living now, Your Highness?"

"In Ashford Academy with Nunnally and Euphemia," He began. "The Ashfords were supporters of my mother, so we sought their help after the war."

"I see," He nodded. He should have expected the Ashfords to be helping in hiding the three thought-to-be-dead royals. He decided to change the subject afterwards. "How are you planning on starting a rebellion against your father, Prince Lelouch?"

Lelouch's expression became serious. "Right now, I'm going to help the resistance group in fighting Clovis' forces here in Shinjuku."

Jeremiah's eyes widened in disbelief at what his prince said. "My lord, why are you going to help some Eleven terrorists?"

The former prince frowned at that name. "They're Japanese, Jeremiah," He stated firmly. "They are only called 'Elevens' because Britannia refers to them as such, and I'm going to help them in order to stop the bloodshed."

The orange-eyed man nodded slowly. Right now, he was feeling remorse and regret for killing the Japanese people not only in Shinjuku, but also during all those past years. How foolish he has was to think that killing those innocent people will help him in avenging the supposed death of the young royals, and atoning for his insufficiency in protecting the late Empress. He shook his head, and Lelouch noticed from the expression that appeared on the turquoise-haired man that something was bothering him. "Is something the matter, Jeremiah?"

"Yes..." His voice sounded almost hoarse. "Ever since Lady Marianne's death, I have sought different ways in order to atone for my failure in protecting her."

Lelouch's eyes narrowed as he realized something. "That's the reason why you have founded the Purist Faction, correct?"

"Indeed, my lord," He sighed. "But I have done many, many heinous things in my quest for penance."

The raven-haired prince walked to the older man and put his right hand on the man's shoulder. "And that's why you must work with me, Lord Jeremiah," He stated. "By working with me, you will be able to not only atone for your failure in protecting my mother, but also for the bad things you have done."

The older man smiled warmly and nodded his head. "Thank you, Prince Lelouch."

The young man smiled back. "Now, may I borrow your Sutherland?"

The older man blinked. "Huh? I know you're Lady Marianne the Flash's son, but that doesn't mean you can pilot a Knightmare as good as your own mother," He then cleared his throat as he realized that he may have been somewhat rude towards his prince. "I mean, can you pilot a Knightmare well, Your Highness?"

The raven-haired prince just smirked. "Don't underestimate me, Jeremiah."

* * *

{Elsewhere in the Shinjuku Ghetto}

The redhead known as Kallen couldn't believe her eyes. Her outdated Knightmare Frame was running out of energy when suddenly, a Sutherland swooped in to help her. She wondered: Why would the Britannian forces help them now?! Was it a rogue unit?

Her opponent, who was a tanned woman with silver hair and golden eyes was equally shocked at what's happening. A Sutherland appeared out of nowhere and protected the Glasgow. "You! What's your unit?!" The woman in the Sutherland demanded. However, she did not receive a reply. Instead, the Sutherland aimed a rifle-like weapon at her and fired. Surprised at that, she didn't have enough time to counter, so she ejected out of the machine.

Kallen snapped out of her stunned state before speaking to her savior. "You saved me," She sighed in relief. "But… who are you?" The pilot of the Sutherland didn't answer; instead, he sped away, leaving a confused redhead to wonder who he was and why did he help her. _Maybe he's the strong silent type? _She mused.

Suddenly, her radio crackled. _"Q-1, are you alright?"_

Her eyes widened in shock at the one who spoke. It did not belong to one of the members of her resistance, but it did sound familiar for some reason… and what type of a codename is Q-1?! _But where did I hear this voice before? _"Who's this?!" She demanded. "And how do you know this code?!"

_"Let's just say that I'm the one who's going to deliver victory to you in this skirmish."_

"Victory?" She asked incredulously. Was this guy for real?

_"Yes," _The voice confirmed. _"All you have to do is trust me."_

"Trust you?" She repeated, not pleased. "How can I trust you when I don't even know who you are?!"

There was a pause for a moment, and the teenaged girl assumed that the one behind the voice may have concluded that it was a good point. However…

_"I'm afraid I can't tell you my real name," _He stated. _"This radio signal could be traced, after all. However, for a lack of a name, how about an alias?" _He asked. _"My alias is… Zero."_

She raised an eyebrow. "Zero?" She repeated. "As in nothing?"

_"Indeed."_

"Okay…" She said slowly before remembering something. "Oh yeah. A Sutherland just saved me from a Britannian soldier. Was it you?"

_"No, it wasn't me," _Came the reply. _"But it does belong to one of my allies."_

Her eyes widened. "Allies?" His allies were able to get their hands on Sutherlands, and it's possible to assume that he was piloting one as well.

The radio crackled again, and this time it was someone she knew all too well. _"KALLEN!" _The voice made her cringe. _"What did I tell you about leaving the resistance fights to us and remain in school?!"_

She groaned in irritation. _Naoto has always been like this… _"Onii-chan! If I didn't come today, you all would've had a harder time fighting the Britannian forces!"

The redhead heard him sigh loudly before hearing someone else's voice. _"Kallen, were you helped by a group of Sutherlands and then got contacted by someone else?"_

"Only one Sutherland helped me," She replied. It seems that 'Zero' has contacted her brother and the rest of the resistance group. "The one who contacted me told me to refer to him as Zero."

* * *

{Elsewhere in the Shinjuku Ghetto}

Lelouch contacted the leader of the resistance group, which turned out to be Naoto, Kallen's brother. He told him to lead his group to a bunch of trailers that contained Sutherlands and different kinds of weaponry. Naturally, all of the resistance members were stunned. They got their hands on Britannian Knightmares! Just who was this guy?!

Naoto climbed into one just as Kallen arrived in her Glasgow. She then exited the outdated Knightmare Frame and climbed into one of the Sutherlands. Her brother frowned at her. "Haven't you had enough fun for one day, Kallen?"

"Are you kidding me?" She retorted, grinning. "The fun has just begun!" She activated the machine.

One of the resistance members –a man with red hair and a beard- wasn't sure about using these Knightmare Frames since their IFFs were removed.

"We have no choice, Tamaki," Replied the leader of the resistance. "It's our only chance of countering the Britannian forces and protecting the civilians."

Zero then commanded them to get into position, to which they obeyed. This guy has proven himself to be a capable leader, so if they wanted to win, they'll have to trust him… for now.

Five Britannian Sutherlands were roaming Shinjuku in order to find Elevens and eliminate them. Since they all have received information that says that the terrorists have gotten hold of Sutherlands, they'll have to be careful.

_"Now!"_ Zero commanded.

One of the resistance members commandeered his Sutherland into sending the hook-like object known as the Slash Harken towards some debris; it attached itself to the wreckage and caused the first one to trip and fall. The others who didn't have time to stop have also tripped and fell down. They were piled up in one place. Suddenly, more Sutherlands appeared out of their hiding places.

_"Take that, you damn Britannians!" _One of the resistance members shouted before opening fire with their rifles on the Britannian Sutherlands.

Somewhere else, a Britannian Sutherland was seen chasing a resistance one. It seems that the former had figured out that the latter is a terrorist. "Elevens," The Britannian soldier began. "They're all cowards." All of a sudden, he found himself surrounded by five Sutherlands. He gasped in shock; that terrorist Sutherland had actually led him to an ambush! Before he could open fire on them, they all fired at him, causing him to eject.

Another group of five Britannian Sutherlands were seen destroying the debris. Their self-appointed leader has actually discovered the Elevens' strategy: Use the debris and ruins to hide and then launch a surprise attack. _"Come out of hiding, you cowardly Elevens!" _The 'leader' of the group shouted as he fired all over the place, destroying the debris. Suddenly, the ground beneath them opened and swallowed them. Another ambush from the 'Elevens', but this time they have used explosives in order to make a huge hole under them to cripple them.

Lelouch cackled maniacally in his Knightmare Frame. Unbeknownst to him, all members of the resistance cell heard his crazy laugh. Kallen, her brother and everyone else sweat-dropped at that.

_Is that guy really the one who saved us? _Naoto questioned himself. _He doesn't seem sane to me…_

_If Zero's the guy who I think he is, then I'm shocked to my core. _The female redhead thought nervously.

* * *

{Near the G-1 Base in Shinjuku}

According to the Intel he received from his new eccentric boss and his female assistant, the terrorists have gained an upper hand in the battlefield all of a sudden and managed to eliminate half of the Britannian forces. Whoever their leader was, he must be a master strategist. Suzaku wondered for a moment if it was his former sensei, Tohdoh, but soon pushed that thought away. Kyoshiro Tohdoh was part of the Japan Liberation Front, or the JLF for short, and that group is easily the most powerful anti-Britannian group in Area 11. Why would they support some measly terrorist group?

HOWEVER, another possibility crossed his mind. _Is the one leading the terrorist group Lelouch? _He then shook his head sharply. _No! There's no way Lelouch would support a group of terrorists! He may still hate Britannia, but that doesn't mean he would help some terrorists! _But wait, he hasn't seen Lelouch in seven years. So why is he pushing away the likelihood of his best friend leading a group of terrorists against the Britannian forces in Shinjuku? Is it because he didn't want to believe that his friend was working with some terrorists?

He slapped his face on both sides few times. _Focus, Suzaku! _He told himself angrily. _This is no time for these muses!_

"Are you alright, Suzaku?" The female assistant, who had purple hair and light purple eyes asked in worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Miss Cecile."

"You better be!" His eccentric boss, who had silver hair, green eyes and was wearing glasses, told him. "My Lancelot doesn't want a pilot who can't concentrate!"

"Um, right, Lloyd."

Whether Lelouch was aiding the terrorists or not, he has to stop the bloodshed no matter what it takes him. And with the Lancelot by his side, he'll be able to do it.

* * *

{Somewhere in Shinjuku}

Lelouch was surprised to hear the screams of the rebels on the radio; the lines would cut off after they shriek. One of the rebels managed to tell him something about the reinforcements that shocked him a lot. _Only one unit?! _He thought in worry; his eyes narrowing. _Just what type of Knightmare Frame has Britannia developed?!_

Like clockwork, a white Knightmare with golden trims appeared in front of him, startling him and causing him to gasp. The Knightmare jumped in the air, spun around and landed a direct kick on Lelouch's Sutherland; the force of the kick caused him to grit his teeth in pain and frustration. _What is that thing?! _He thought in horror.

Before the white Knightmare could land another direct hit on the purple mecha, a Slash Harken appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the hand of the white Knightmare, causing it to stop momentarily. _"You're Zero, right?" _Kallen asked. _"Well, I'm returning the favor now. Use this opportunity to escape."_

"Are you going to be alright?" The boy asked in concern.

_"Don't worry about me," _The girl assured him while grinning. _"I'm the Ace of my resistance group."_

"Alright then," He smiled. "Thank you." He then took off, but even with her assurance, he couldn't help but feel worried about her. "Kallen, be safe." He whispered.

The redhead was barely able to contain her gasp. Her suspicions of Zero being _that _person have risen, and she gritted her teeth in anger. _Why would someone like him help a resistance group?! _Her muses caused the enormous white Knightmare to break free from her Slash Harkens; it then proceeded to punch her constantly, forcing her to eject from her Sutherland.

* * *

{G-1 Base in Shinjuku}

After using his Geass on a soldier, Lelouch managed to get his hands on his uniform. Disguising himself as a soldier, he got through the Britannian troops rather easily. When he got closer to the G-1 Base, he used his new power on the guard and 'convinced' him to let him through. As he made his way inside, he saw a group of high-ranking generals gathered around a map. The Viceroy, who was a blond man with blue eyes, was seen sitting on his throne, smiling delightfully. The former prince assumed that was because of that white Knightmare that managed to turn the table in Britannia's favor again.

One of the generals noticed Lelouch's presence. He was a chubby man with balding head and tan skin. "Hey you! Who are you?!" He demanded.

Naturally, everyone turned to where the chubby general snapped, but before they could shout at him, their will was taken away from them momentarily by the force of Lelouch's Geass. "Everyone, leave us alone."

They nodded monotonously before making their way outside the G-1 Base, causing the Viceroy to panic. "Bartley! Generals! Where are you all going to?!"

"Let's just say that they are going out on a stroll." The young prince answered.

"Who are you…?" The Viceroy asked, aghast.

"Are you sure you don't know who I am, Your Highness?" He asked mockingly. "Well, fair enough, the last time you saw me was when I was just a little boy. But now I am a young man." He then pointed his handgun at the other prince. "Now, if you would be so kind, how about calling a ceasefire and tell your forces to treat every injured person? That also includes the Japanese."

If it were any other situation, the older prince would've stiffened at calling the Elevens by their former name. He slowly grabbed the microphone and spoke. "To all forces! I Clovis la Britannia order you to cease fire!" He announced. "I repeat: I Clovis la Britannia order you to cease fire at once! Treat every wounded person, including Elevens!" He then turned off the com. "Are you happy now?"

"Satisfied." He then slowly approached Clovis, not removing his helmet. "Now then, how about answering some of my questions?" He asked, removing the eye piece from his eyes. The blond prince was now under his complete control. He asked him few questions regarding his mother's death. Apparently, he had no hand whatsoever in Empress Marianne's death, but presumed that the Second Prince Schneizel and the Second Princess Cornelia may know something about her death. However, he was curious about something else...

"Why did you order a full-scale massacre here in Shinjuku?"

"Because the terrorists stole a container," Clovis replied monotonously. "If the Emperor or anyone else finds out about what's inside it, I'll be disinherited."

Lelouch scowled deeply at that; typical of a member of the Royal Family of Britannia. They'll do anything so they won't lose their claim for the throne. He remembered Clovis as a flamboyant but a gentle person. Now, he ordered a genocide in Shinjuku so no one would find out about what's inside that container. Apparently, only him and the high-ranking generals knew about what's inside it as Suzaku told him that it contained poison gas.

"The woman that was inside that container… what is she?" He asked almost venomously.

"My subordinates and I assume that she may know a way to grant immortality to a person if certain conditions were met," He started explaining. "We were doing human experiments on her to see how does she grant immortality to people."

The former prince's eyes widened in shock. Immortality? Did Geass have something to do with immortality? But what disgusted him even more was the fact that his brother was doing experiments on a human being. Clovis has turned into one vile human over these years. He shook his head before turning off his Geass, releasing Clovis from his control. He turned his back to the older prince.

"YOU! Who the hell are you?!"

"I am… Zero," He replied before turning back to face Clovis. "But you won't remember anything. Forget about our encounter." He commanded, activating his Geass.

"Forget about our encounter?!" The blond prince repeated in fury, causing the younger one to back away a little in surprise. "I may not know who you really are, 'Zero', but I promise you this: I will make you pay for your insolence!" He grabbed the microphone and was about to tell the soldiers to come and help him, but a bullet to his head was all it took to stop him from issuing the order…

The exiled prince stared in horror at his brother's body. His eyes were narrowing horrifyingly at what he has done...

**TBC…**

* * *

**And the winner of the award for the worst writer of strategies isssss *Drums roll***

**Seriously though. I feel like the strategy was awful. It's so generic and so un-Lelouch-like. If anyone thinks of a proper strategy, please PM me so I can edit this chapter.**

**Also, regarding Clovis not recognizing Lelouch, it was because Lelouch removed the eye piece and not the gas mask. The gas mask covered the lower half of his face, so Clovis didn't recognize him.**

**It seems that most of you didn't understand my question. Well, let me explain it to you properly. When I went to read some info regarding the characters of CG, there was some info written about Zero wanting to reveal his identity to Kallen WILLINGLY, but she declined, which meant that she trusted him. Which episode was that?! I know that the episode in which Kallen found out about Zero's identity was the last episode of the first season. How can anyone possibly forget that scene?! That was one of the most heated scenes in the series!  
**

**Thanks for taking your time to read my story. Hope you've enjoyed. Please review if you will.**


	3. The Witch and the Ace

**Wow! This story's getting popular! Thanks for everyone who reviewed this story! I really appreciate it. That also goes for the ones who followed and added it to their favorites.**

**Okay, I have decided. I'm going to include characters from spin-offs in this story. Yeah.**

* * *

{Stadtfeld Mansion, Japan, 2009 ATB}

"Dad is coming to Japan?" A younger Naoto asked an older woman in surprise.

The woman had brown hair and blue eyes. She was the mother of Kallen and Naoto, and her name was Satsuki Stadtfeld. "That's what your father told me," She affirmed. "He said that one of the Emperor's consorts was assassinated and her children were sent to Japan as bargaining tools."

"Bargaining tools?" He repeated, blinking. "For what?"

"For Sakuradite." She replied with a frown.

A deep frown appeared on the young man's face; he should have expected nothing less from the Emperor of Britannia. Using his children as bargaining chips for one of the rarest minerals in the world so Britannia would remain the most powerful nation on the planet. Just how low can the Emperor go? "But what does this has to do with Dad coming to Japan?"

"The Stadtfeld family is one of the supporting families of this particular consort of the Emperor," She began explaining. "But because of that, all of the families who supported the late consort would be stripped of their nobility, including ours."

The male redhead's eyes widened. "No way…"

The woman closed her eyes in sadness. "I'm afraid that's the truth, Naoto."

{The next day}

A middle aged man with red hair and blue eyes entered the Stadtfeld mansion. He was called Tobias Stadtfeld. A nine-year old Kallen was seen running towards the man and then embraced him. "Yay! Papa's back home!" She squealed cheerfully.

The man chuckled happily at his daughter's enthusiasm; even after all the stress and pressure following the death of Empress Marianne, his daughter's cheerful demeanor made him brighten up immediately. He was then approached by his wife and son Naoto. "Darling…" She called him worriedly; the same expression was on his son's face as well.

The patriarch of the family sighed at them before smiling. "I have good news for you."

His son raised an eyebrow. Good news? This soon? "About what?"

"Your grandaunt decided to financially support us," He began. "Her family isn't one of the families that supported the Emperor's late consort, so it didn't fall out of grace."

His wife and son weren't sure how they should react to such news; while it's good that the family would be supported by their grandaunt, what about the family's nobility status? How will they be able to restore that? "But Dad, what about the family's nobility?" The eldest child asked.

"Hm? What about it?"

Satsuki frowned. "There's no need to pretend that you don't know what we're talking about, darling," She told him. "Naoto's question was clear."

The Stadtfeld patriarch sighed in defeat; his family's members were persistent. "Alright. I was given an option by my aunt about restoring the family's noble status, but I've declined it."

"What?!" They all shouted simultaneously, not believing what they've just heard.

"But why, Dad?" The son inquired in disbelief. "Why did you decline our aunt's offer?"

"Because the offer says that you must marry a woman born into nobility!" Tobias replied angrily.

Silence. They all became silent when they heard what the man said. When he saw their expressions, he sighed and shook his head. "Well? Don't you have anything to say about this?"

Naoto, who has regained his composure scowled. "Even though, why didn't you agree?"

The father's eyes narrowed in disbelief at his son; how could Naoto accept such an option? Tobias never wanted his children to be involved in the family's business; all what he wanted for them was to live a normal life. That's why he didn't want them to live in Britannia, particularly in Pendragon and had them live in Japan with their mother. "Because I don't want you to marry some random woman that you may not live happily with," He responded, his eyes turning soft. "Your happiness is more important to me than restoring the family's nobility."

The son's angry expression softened as well as he lowered his head in shame. He knew that his father loved him and his sister a great deal, but he never expected that he would go as far as decline an offer that would restore the family's noble status. "Dad… I'm sorry."

His father smiled. "It's alright, son," He assured. "I know that you care about the family's status being restored, but you should know that the well-being of everyone in my family is more important to me than the family's name."

The youngest redhead grinned. "You should be glad that Papa refused that offer, Big Brother," She said. "I mean, who knows? You may have married an old lady!"

They laughed at what the girl said. Truly, there's nothing more important to oneself than the happiness of the ones they love and care about the most.

{Two weeks later}

The Stadtfeld family enjoyed a nice dinner together. For two weeks, they were glad that they were able to eat together. Tobias was away in Pendragon most of the time before Empress Marianne's death, so they didn't get the chance to enjoy a wonderful family time with each other. Perhaps things weren't so bad after all…

Later that night, Kallen and Naoto heard the scream of the maids downstairs. Worried, they both rushed out of their rooms to see what has happened. The scene before them was something they'll never be able to forget for the rest of their lives…

Their mother along with few other servants were lying dead in a pool of their own blood. The female redhead's eyes were wide in horror at what she was seeing. She began hyperventilating before her brother held her tightly, covering her eyes with his hands.

"Don't look, Kallen!" He told her as tears poured from his eyes. "Please… don't look…"

"Big Brother…" She whimpered in her brother's arms.

{The next day}

People have gathered for the funeral of Kallen and Naoto's mother. The youngest child was seen sobbing uncontrollably while the eldest one had tears running down his eyes. The father was also seen in a similar state to his son. They all watched sadly as the coffin that confined the woman they all loved the most was put inside a hole. The burial of Satsuki was finished.

All of the people naturally left after the end of the funeral, except for the remaining three. They all laid flowers on the resting place of Mrs. Stadtfeld and bode her farewell before leaving.

* * *

**The Witch and the Ace**

{Shinjuku, March 21st 2017 ATB}

To say that everyone in Shinjuku, whether they were Britannians or 'Elevens' were confused was an understatement. First, the Viceroy gave the order to leave no one alive in Shinjuku, and after eliminating half of the people living there, he ordered a ceasefire and told them to treat the wounded, even if they were 'Elevens'.

A deep frown was seen on Kallen's face. The person she assumed to be 'Zero' was a classmate of hers, but... she was not fond of him at all, and she had wondered for a long time what did Shirley and pretty much every girl in school find so charming about him. Well, she had to admit that his facial features were delicate, but other than that, there was nothing special about him._  
_

However, from the tone of his voice, he did seem to be genuinely concerned about her. Well, she supposed since he knew her personally and that he may have considered her a friend, he would be worried about her. But she highly doubted that he would care about the well-being of the members of her resistance cell. From now on, she would keep an eye on him.

Elsewhere in Shinjuku, a certain turquoise-haired man was seen walking towards the G-1 Base. He wondered why Prince Clovis would call a ceasefire all of a sudden. _Is it possible that Prince Lelouch was able to find his way into the base?_ But he quickly dismissed the thought. The security was very high around the base, and looking back at how his prince looked like, there was no way that he would be able to get inside the base with a physique like that.

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

The walk back to Ashford was tiring for him. He killed one of the brothers that he loved because he panicked. _But he did order a genocide on the people of Shinjuku, not to mention the human experiments he was doing on that woman. So, punishing him by killing him was the best fate for him. _However, as he thought more about it, he had realized that being disinherited was a fate worse than death for Clovis. Maybe if he didn't panic, his flamboyant brother may have became delusional if _His Majesty _and pretty much every member of the Royal Family knew about what Clovis was hiding, and what he has done.

And when he returned to Ashford Academy, he was greeted by some nagging from his sister Euphemia and his friend Shirley. He, understandably, was not in the mood to hear an earful from them, not after everything that happened during this day.

As he sat down on his bed, he began observing some tapes. These tapes had the footages of him questioning Clovis and then killing him. The young man was glad that he took the tapes for obvious reasons. But, how can these tapes help him anyway? His train of thought was soon interrupted when he heard a knock on his door. "Yes?"

"Master Lelouch, there's a girl in the living room who says that she knows you." A female voice said.

He frowned at that; who could be visiting him at this late hour? He put the tapes on his table before walking outside of his room.

When he entered the living room, he froze when he saw the green-haired woman who had taken a bullet in the forehead for him back in Shinjuku. She was sitting down while wearing the Ashford student uniform for girls and casually folding paper cranes with his youngest sister, Nunnally. Euphie was sitting on the other end of the table, eying the woman suspiciously.

"Lelouch, your friend C.C has a really strange name," The sandy-haired girl stated while giggling. "She only goes by her initials."

"C.C?" He repeated, not impressed.

"Lelouch and I have plans for the future." The woman named C.C stated.

"Plans for the future?!" The pink-haired princess repeated incredulously.

Nunnally frowned. "Isn't it a bit too early for that, Big Brother?"

The prince gritted his teeth; how did Nunnally jump to THAT conclusion?! Who was this strange woman anyway? Why was she talking to him about some future plans?! He then grabbed her by her arm and led her to his room; his sisters blinked their eyes, looked at each other briefly and then turned away. The youngest one frowned in confusion while the older one huffed and folded her arms in annoyance.

He dragged her to his bed and began asking her questions. He was shocked to know that she knows that he and his sisters were royals. She then asked him whether he liked the power she gave him or not and he affirmed it.

"What is the wish that I need to grant for you?" He asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

He rubbed his temples in frustration; he had a long and tiring day and he wasn't quite ready to deal with someone who was talking in puzzles. He decided to change the subject. "When I interrogated Clovis about you, he said that you have a way of granting people immortality," He stated while folding his arms firmly. "Enlighten me."

A deep scowl appeared on her face as she remembered the awful human experiments that pompous prince had conducted on her. "All I can say is, once you have granted my wish, you will become immortal."

He blinked. "What?"

"You heard me."

The boy frowned; this woman doesn't give clear answers, and he needed them so badly. However, he has deduced something about what she said. "Let me guess; you have a Geass and when you granted the wish of the one who gave you the Geass, you became immortal?"

She smirked at him; this boy was certainly something else. "I used to have a Geass," She corrected him. "But when I granted the wish of the one who gave it to me, I've lost my Geass and gained immortality in its place."

"I see," Lelouch nodded as another scowl appeared on his handsome mug. Getting this power may not have been a good idea. While the Geass itself has accelerated his plan of destroying Britannia, he wasn't sure if he wanted to live his life as an immortal. Being immortal means living forever… which also means watching your loved ones grow old and die while you continue on living… which in turn means a life of loneliness. Wait… "Just how old are you?"

"My, aren't you such an impudent boy?" The golden-eyed woman asked him teasingly. "Don't you know it is rude to ask a woman about her age?"

He gritted his teeth in frustration; this woman was getting on his nerves. "Witch."

She just shrugged and got under the blankets. "Well, if you don't have any more questions, I will go to sleep," She turned over. "If you are a gentleman, you will let me sleep on your bed while you sleep on the floor."

_You didn't even ask if you could sleep on my bed, witch! _He shouted in his head, rubbing his temples in extreme annoyance. During his entire life, he has never met a person as irritating as C.C. He sighed in defeat before taking another blanket from his wardrobe.

"Don't forget to turn off the lights."

The former prince groaned loudly before heading outside. He put his blanket on the couch and then sat down. His sisters joined him shortly afterwards. The expression on the pink-haired one said that she was still annoyed and skeptical of that woman, while the sandy-haired one still had a look of confusion on her face.

"Lelouch, who was that woman?" Euphie inquired with a pout. "And what did she mean by plans for the future?!"

"Euphie, please don't panic," He begged his sister, rubbing his temples. "She was only joking."

"It didn't sound like she was joking to me." The older princess countered, folding her arms.

He sighed again; he doesn't have the strength to deal with his sister's nagging… again. "Euphie, please. I'm really tired," He lied down on the couch and drew the blanket over himself. "Tomorrow we will discuss C.C, okay?" He then remembered something. "Oh! Also, don't tell Madame Prez and the others about C.C, got it?"

"Wait, why are you sleeping on the couch, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked.

"Because C.C is sleeping in my bed."

His sisters' eyes widened in surprise; this C.C must be some woman to kick Lelouch out of his room and sleep in his bed! Or did Lelouch let her sleep on his bed? No, no. Their brother would never let ANYONE sleep on his bed, so it must be the first option. Still, to be able to convince Lelouch to sleep on his bed meant that C.C was something else… or maybe their brother was just too tired to argue with her?

At any rate, they did not want to think too hard about this and they certainly did NOT want to question Lelouch any further regarding C.C sleeping on his bed. They have taken it as a rule: Never. Discuss. Anything. With. Lelouch. When. He's. Tired. EVER.

* * *

{Stadtfeld Mansion}

The Stadtfeld heiress was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling with her hands under her head. She kept her left leg on top of her right one as she shook the former. More questions swarmed her head.

How did he get in Shinjuku?

Why did he help her resistance group?

How did he know that it was her who has saved him from that white Knightmare?

How did he get into the G-1 Base?

How did he manage to convince Prince Clovis into ordering a ceasefire?

And many more. But rest assured, for tomorrow, she will find the answers to all of these questions from him.

A knock on the door of her bedroom caused her to turn her head to it. "Come in."

Naoto entered the room and took a seat near her bed. She just turned back into staring at the ceiling. "Kallen, I was thinking about something ever since the ceasefire happened."

"What is it?"

He drew in a deep breath before speaking again. "If Zero manages to somehow contact us, I will arrange a meeting with him."

"Meeting?" The girl asked raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I will learn more about him and then decide if he can join us."

"What?" She bolted from her bed and took a sitting position. "Are you serious?!"

He frowned at her sudden outburst. "But Kallen, having a brilliant strategist like that on our side is going to give us a bigger chance of getting Japan back!"

She sighed. "Yes, that may be true, but..."

He folded his arms and gave a small glare at his sister. "But what, Kallen?"

The girl sighed. "What if he refused to tell us everything about himself?" She knew how secretive and dodgy _that guy _was, and even though she wanted to question him tomorrow, she wasn't sure if he's going to answer her questions honestly.

"It's alright, Kallen," Naoto replied; his glare softened and he let his arms down. "I'm also not going to reveal everything about myself to him, and neither will anyone else of our resistance group." He assured her. "All what I need to know is his real name and his reasons for fighting against Britannia."

The younger sister of Naoto folded her arms and pouted, looking up. "But... what if he was a Britannian?"

Her brother's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting that. He then put his hand under his chin in thought. "Maybe... he's like us."

Now the younger redhead's eyes widened. That actually DOES make sense. Maybe the Lamperouge family was a noble family that supported the late consort of the Emperor that was murdered eight years ago. Now that she remembers, Lelouch did tell her when they first met that the principal of Ashford Academy let him and his sisters stay in for free, and that his late parents were close friends of the Ashfords. Perhaps that was why he was helping them. But still...

* * *

{Ashford Academy, March 22nd 2017 ATB}

Lelouch didn't sleep well last night, no thanks to that green-haired witch. The couch was really uncomfortable. How dare that witch sleep on his bed?! He couldn't get at her last night due to his tiredness, but he will claim his bed back tonight!

As he passed by a lobby, he saw a group of students gathered in front of a laptop. There were news about some traffic jam in Shinjuku and nothing else. The raven-haired boy frowned; why hasn't the media released the news of Clovis's death yet? He knew they would never release the truth behind what happened in Shinjuku. After all, the Britannian media was all about propaganda.

Before entering the class, he heard his friend Shirley say something loudly. "Kallen! I'm so glad you're back!"

He blinked his eyes; Kallen was back at school? She was probably back to lay low following the skirmish that happened in Shinjuku. He didn't know why an heiress to a noble Britannian family would become a terrorist. That's probably the REAL reason why she skipped school from time to time, to participate in terrorist activities in the ghettos. _Kallen told us before that the reason why she constantly skipped school was because she was involved in her family's business in Pendragon. _But now he knows the truth... or at least part of it.

When he entered the classroom, he didn't even glance at her. She, on the other hand, kept her eyes fixed on him.

"Kallen, why are you looking at Lulu like that?" The orange-haired girl asked with a frown.

"Huh?" She looked back at Shirley. "N-nothing."

"Don't tell me; you like Lulu too, don't you?" She asked in disbelief.

"W-what?!" She stammered, her face turning red. "T-that's not true! I mean, I like Lelouch as a friend, but not in THAT way, Shirley!"

The former prince just sighed and shook his head. Shirley and her musings…

* * *

{Ashford Academy}

The young prince wasn't sure if he should use his Geass on Kallen in order to interrogate her. He actually doesn't want to use this power on his friends, or even his future allies. However, using his Geass on Kallen now would make her immune to its effects in case something goes horribly wrong.

During lunchtime, he approached the female redhead, who was eating a sandwich. She noticed him and frowned. _Did he come to question me? _"Lelouch, can I help you with something?" She asked him in a polite tone.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Kallen, but I need some answers from you." He stated, activating his Geass. His friend was taken over by his new power, and that made him frown. He took a deep breath. "You were the one piloting that outdated Glasgow, weren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why are you working with some Japanese terrorists?"

"Because I am half-Japanese myself."

His eyes widened in shock; he never knew that his redheaded friend was half-Japanese at all. Still, he wasn't done yet. "Is that the only reason you're fighting against Britannia?"

"No," She began. "My mother was assassinated eight years ago, and I suspect that her murderers were members of the Gladstone and Conyngham noble families, or assassins working for them."

The prince's eyes narrowed at what he'd just heard from Kallen. _You too, Kallen…? _Kallen and himself shared a similar dark past... Both of their mothers died eight years ago, and they both suspect that Britannian nobles have killed them. But if she was suspecting someone, then that means she doesn't know who has assassinated her mother. In other words, her death became a cold case... just like his mother's.

And these families she mentioned, they were two of the highest ranking and richest noble families in Britannia. The Conyngham family has risen into an even greater grace ever since one of its heiresses became a consort of the Emperor. Lady Letitia rui Britannia, the sixth consort of Emperor Charles zi Britannia, formerly known as Duchess Letitia Conyngham.

"Why do you believe they were responsible for your mother's assassination?"

"One week after my mother's death, my grandaunt, Marchioness Henrietta Gladstone called my father and told him to visit her," She started. "She told him that he must marry Duchess Florentia Conyngham so she can still support him."

The former prince of Britannia did not expect to hear that, but there was still one thing that he needed to know. "Does the name Letitia Conyngham ring a bell?"

"Yes."

"What is her connection to Florentia Conyngham?"

"She is her sister."

Great. No, WONDERFUL. Isn't this such a small world? One of his stepmothers happens to be the sister of Kallen's stepmother! He made a mental note to himself: Never visit Kallen's house again. Luckily, her stepmother wasn't at the house when he visited the last couple of times. Otherwise, she may have recognized him... and it may have ended up badly for him. He released her from his control.

"Um, Lelouch?" She called. "Can I help you with something?"

"Not at all." He turned to leave before she grabbed his hand.

"But you can help me with something, can't you?" She asked him. "Tell me, Lelouch. You were the voice on the radio, weren't you?"

"Voice on the radio?" He repeated, pretending to not know anything. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me, Lelouch!" She snapped at him. "I know it was you!"

"I'm confused, Kallen."

Before she could press the matter farther, her cellphone started ringing. She groaned in annoyance; why would someone call her now of all times? She let go of the boy's hand and picked up her phone. "Hello?"

_"Q-1, I'm glad you're safe."_

Her eyes became the same size as baseballs; it was Zero's voice! But his voice was very similar to Lelouch's, only somewhat deeper in pitch...

_"Come to Tokyo Tower the day after tomorrow at 16:00 hours," _He told her. _"Bring your friends with you."_

"Wait!" She called desperately. "Were you the one who ordered the ceasefire?!"

But he hung up before she could get an answer from him, which caused her to groan in frustration.

"Ceasefire?" Lelouch repeated, faking his confusion.

"Um, yeah, my friends and I play video games regularly." She lied.

"I see," The boy nodded before chuckling. "Well, it seems you have known the identity of the guy on the radio." He smiled.

The girl folded her arms. "Well, I AM surprised that he knows my phone number."

The former prince almost scowled at her, although his lips did form into a thin, straight line. He just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't play video games, Kallen," He stated. "So accusing me of being in cahoots with a random guy and giving him your phone number would prove to be for naught."

"But I didn't accuse you of anything, Lelouch."

"But you presumed that, am I right?"

_As expected from you. _She frowned and decided to drop the subject. Otherwise, it may drag on and on. "Maybe I did, but now I'm taking it back," She admitted. "After all, the only game you're interested in is chess."

He chuckled again. "Right."

"Lulu! Kallen! Chemistry class is about to begin!" Shirley called from a window.

As the violet-eyed boy walked away, the blue-eyed girl couldn't help but glare at the retreating figure of her classmate. _I'm not sure how you pulled off this bluff, Lelouch, _She began. _But I'm sure that you're Zero. The bluff you pulled off was meaningless as you will meet with us tomorrow. _She kept on glaring at him until he entered the school building, and that's when her eyes went wide as she realized something. _Wait. Does that mean you'll disguise yourself?! _But it was understandable... for obvious reasons.

* * *

{Later that night}

The young prince entered his house to see his sisters making paper cranes. It seems that C.C was nowhere to be seen, which meant that she was still in his room. A frown appeared on his face; he deduced that the green-haired witch won't be leaving his house until he grants her her one wish that he has no idea what it was.

He decided to ignore that for now as he sat down on the table with his sisters. He never asked them why they were making paper cranes, but now seemed like a good time to do that. "Why are you folding paper cranes?"

"Miss Sayoko taught us how to make them," Nunnally replied with a smile. "She said that if we folded a thousand of them, our greatest wish will come true."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked back at his room, a devious smirk appearing on his face after that. "Really?"

"Yes." Euphie confirmed.

He then turned back to his sisters. "So, what do you two wish for?"

The youngest one put her hand under her chin in thought before smiling happily. "I wish the world was a gentler place."

Lelouch clasped the hands of his crippled sister and smiled at her. "And I'll make sure to make that wish come true one day," He then turned to his other sister. "What about you, Euphie? What do you wish for?"

"Well, I also wish for a gentler world like Nunnally," She responded. "But more than anything, I wish for the three of us to live happily with each other, without fear of being recognized and forced back into the fold of the Royal Family."

The two full-blooded siblings looked at their half-sister in bewilderment. The sandy-haired girl looked at her brother with a wide smile. "Then, can I change my wish?" Her brother nodded. "I wish for the three of us to live happily together in a gentler world," She then held out her pinky to him. "Miss Sayoko told me that when people make promises in Japan, they tie their pinky fingers together."

"I see," He held out his pinky finger to her and then held out his other pinky to Euphemia. She blinked before holding out her pinky to him. "I promise to create a gentle world where the three of us can live in happiness." He stated with a loving smile.

* * *

When he entered his room, he saw C.C on his bed, wearing nothing but a white shirt… he briefly frowned at her immodesty before smirking as he approached her. "You know something, C.C?" He asked, sitting on the bed. "I found a way to make your wish come true without having to become an immortal myself."

She raised an eyebrow at that, barely hiding her surprise at what she was told. "Oh? Care to enlighten me?"

"With pleasure," He replied. "It's really simple, but it might take you a long time if you're lazy. Just fold one thousand paper cranes and your wish will become true."

She stared at him for a few seconds before chuckling. "Such an amusing boy," She remarked. "You really believed an ancient Japanese legend that your maid told your sisters about?" She asked him mockingly, shaking her head. "And here I thought you were smarter than this."

A deep scowl appeared on his face; he actually knew it was a Japanese legend, but because he didn't want to upset his sisters, he decided to play along with them. Who knows? They may have known it was a Japanese legend but have also decided to play along with him. But if they knew that it was a myth, why would they bother folding one thousand paper cranes? Or did this become a new hobby for them to prevent the boredom?

His thought process was interrupted when he heard Euphie shriek. Worried, he immediately hurried outside to see what's going on. Both Nunnally and Euphemia were watching the TV and on the TV... was Suzaku. He was in a white prisoner uniform and he was accused of murdering Clovis!

His eyes narrowed in shock, disbelief and anger. He was shocked to know that his friend had actually survived that gunshot, but now he was accused of a crime he didn't commit… a crime that he himself had committed, and his best friend has taken the fall for it!

His eyes blazed with the fire of anger; he would save his friend from execution, and convince him to join his side. Suzaku would surely join his side after seeing how the Britannian system worked. But wait, why would he think that? For seven years, he hasn't seen Suzaku, believing that he was dead. He didn't know if his best friend was still the same person that he was from seven years ago. So, why was he sure that he would join his side and help him in obliterating Britannia? He told him to help him in destroying Britannia seven years ago, but his friend didn't give him an answer…

He then looked at his pink-haired sister, who was crying on Nunnally's lap. The latter was trying to comfort her sister. Lelouch wasn't sure what exactly she was crying about. Was it because of Clovis's death? Or was it because of Suzaku's announced execution? Or was it both?

**TBC…**

* * *

**So, yeah. I made some drastic changes to this chapter compared to the other ones. Hope you like them.**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	4. Of Meetings and Preparations

**First of all, I would like to say: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am so happy that many people are enjoying Re-Vision. It means so much to me!**

**For the people who have read this chapter before, please read it again! I have made drastic changes to it!**

**Without further ado, let's begin!**

* * *

{Kururugi Shrine, 2009 ATB}

One month passed since they were sent off to Japan as political hostages. During this one month, Lelouch saw that the Japanese were indeed hospitable and respectful people. The people living in the shrine never treated them with disdain despite being Britannian royals… maybe except for one person… at least towards him.

The Prime Minister, Genbu Kururugi didn't talk a lot with them, but he didn't treat them with contempt either.

Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Suzaku's sensei was tired from constantly stopping his student from beating the prince every time they got into a fight. He offered to train Lelouch, and of course, the young prince refused strongly. Much to his and Tohdoh's surprise, Euphemia wanted to learn martial arts in order to become stronger, but the Japanese man awkwardly refused and stated that he doesn't train girls, causing Euphie to pout childishly in annoyance.

Kaguya Sumeragi, the Prime Minister's niece got along very well with his sisters and they became fast friends. She was nice enough for him, but the crush she has developed on him was somewhat unhealthy. It has grown to the point of making him her future husband, much to the chagrin of his sisters who also wanted to marry him. The fact that Nunnally and Euphemia wanted to marry their brother sickened her, and the three would always fight over who would become Lelouch's bride in the future. Those were the only times in which the three girls would argue with each other.

Another person living in the shrine was Ryoga Senba. He was an old soldier and a close friend of Tohdoh. The latter was his superior, despite Tohdoh being younger than him. The interaction between Kaguya and the three Britannian royals brought joy to him. After all, how can you not be happy when you see children interacting with each other?

There was also one more person who was living in the Kururugi Shrine, and his name was Taizo Kirihara. He was a bald old man with a cane, and he was also a wise and understanding man. He completely understood why Lelouch and his sisters hated their father, and was very caring towards them.

And lastly, we have Suzaku Kururugi, the son of the Prime Minister. At first, he did not like the Britannian royals at all, but gradually came to like them, especially Euphie. As for Lelouch, well, he still didn't like him.

When the pink-haired princess began leaving the Kururugi Shrine, her brother became suspicious. One day, he decided to follow her to see what she was up to. Just before going out of the shrine, he saw her holding hands with Suzaku, much to his shock and anger. _Don't tell me; _He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in anger. _Euphie likes Suzaku Kururugi in THAT WAY?!_

If Cornelia was here and she found out that her sister was dating a Japanese boy, well, all what Lelouch could do was wish the boy good luck, even if he didn't like him at all. But wait, did Cornelia really care about Euphie? She didn't do anything to prevent her exile with him and Nunnally, and Euphie was her full-blooded sister…

He shook his head and continued on following them. So far, all what they've been doing was chatting and laughing with each other. It seemed to him that his half-sister had been enjoying the brown-haired boy's company. If his sister was happy with this boy, then why should he stop them from spending time with each other? Unless Suzaku broke or even tried to break Euphie's heart… let's just say it wouldn't turn out nicely for the Japanese boy. Even if Lelouch was physically weak, he would find a way to punish the boy for even thinking about breaking his poor sister's heart.

Suddenly, Suzaku stopped walking and Euphemia looked at him confusingly. "Suzaku, what's the matter?"

"I know you've been following us," The green-eyed boy stated with a frown. "In case you're wondering why your sister and I are spending time together, it's because she personally asked me to show her around."

The prince frowned; this boy didn't only have high physical stamina, but also the sixth sense! He then showed himself to the other two.

"Lelouch, why are you following us?" Euphie asked with a scowl.

"I was just worried about you, Euphie."

"You don't have to be worried about me, Lelouch," She assured him with a smile. "Suzaku is with me."

"Well, I don't trust him." He stated with a glare.

Suzaku just rolled his eyes. "I never said I wanted to earn your trust," He proclaimed. "Besides, how can you expect to be able to protect your sisters when you can't even run for few meters?"

He gritted his teeth. "I can take care of my sisters."

"Oh yeah?" The other boy asked mockingly. "Then prove it."

"Stop it!" The pink-haired girl shouted. "I'm sick and tired of seeing everyone I care about arguing and fighting with each other! Just stop!" She then ran off.

"Euphie!" They both called her name before running after her.

Her eyes were closed as she kept running and without looking, she bumped into someone and fell on the ground. She shook her head before looking up at the person she bumped into. It was a Japanese boy who looked like he was a teenager, and he didn't seem to be pleased at all.

"Stupid Brit girl," He muttered angrily. "Are you blind or what?"

"I-I'm s-sorry," She stammered timidly. "I wasn't seeing where I was going."

He then grabbed her by her arm and pressed on it tightly, causing her to wince in pain. "Listen to me, girl. If you ever bump into me again, things may not end up well for you."

"Let her go!"

He turned his head to see two boys running towards him. One of them he recognized, and the other one was a Britannian boy who seemed like he was out of breath.

He smirked. "Well, Kururugi, I never thought you had a Britannian as a girlfriend."

Suzaku ignored that remark. "Just let her go."

"And if I didn't?"

"Then you have left me no choice!" He charged towards the older boy, jumped up, spun around and kicked the boy on his face, causing him to let go of Euphie. He then put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright, Euphie?"

"Y-yes."

"Gah! You'll pay for this, Kururugi!" The teenaged boy promised before running away.

Lelouch then walked to the Japanese, trying to avert his gaze away from him as much as possible. "Suzaku…" He began before swallowing his pride. "Thanks."

Said boy raised his eyebrow in surprise but smiled nevertheless. "No problem."

The prince smiled back. "You know what?" He asked. "I think I'll trust you in protecting Euphie."

The other boy's smile became sheepish. "Well, that was fast." He chuckled nervously.

"I know," Lelouch nodded. "But the way you've saved Euphie from that bully made me think that you're the most suitable to be her Knight."

Suzaku's face immediately turned red. Him? A Knight? Was this boy for real?! "I d-don't know w-what to say…"

The pink-haired girl giggled at the curly-haired boy. "You look so cute when you're flustered, Suzaku."

His face became even redder than before; he has never been so embarrassed in his whole life. He then looked away in shame. "Lelouch… I'm sorry."

Said boy blinked in confusion. Sorry? Why was he apologizing? "Sorry for what?"

"For acting like a jerk towards you."

"Oh," The violet-eyed boy simply said. "Well, never mind that."

A wide grin appeared on the princess's face. "I'm glad you two have finally settled down your differences and became friends."

They looked at her before looking at each other. They smiled before Suzaku held his hand to Lelouch. The prince blinked at it before shaking hands with the other boy.

* * *

**Of Meetings and Preparations  
**

{Lamperouge Residence, March 23rd 2017 ATB}

Seeking redemption for his failure in protecting his mother and his crimes against the Japanese. That's what Jeremiah told him. Lelouch berated himself for believing what that man said. The Purist Faction's goal was to ensure that only pure-blooded Britannians are allowed to enroll in the military, thus causing the downfall of the Honorary Britannian system. Using the son of Japan's last Prime Minister as a scapegoat will bring down that system in one fell swoop. Jeremiah probably thought that by achieving the Purists' goal in one go, he would be able to redeem himself. Well, he was VERY mistaken, and tomorrow night, he would pay the price for this huge mistake.

He stood up and headed to the door, but the voice of his full-blood sister stopped him. "Lelouch? Are you going out?"

He looked back at her and smiled. "Yes, Nunnally."

She remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "Um, I'm sure Suzaku's innocent," She started. "They were just mistaken."

So innocent and naive. That was how his beloved sister has always been. She thought that the members of the Purist Faction made a mistake when they captured Suzaku, but Lelouch knew better. He just kept his smile. "I'm sure they were."

"But... Suzaku's going to die, isn't he?" Her eyes became teary. "know h-how Sister Euphie felt t-towards him... and th-that's why I d-didn't want to u-upset her m-more b-by showing h-how s-sad I was." The tears flowed down her cheeks.

He balled his fist in anger; that's one more enough reason to teach Jeremiah a lesson. He used his best friend whom he hasn't seen in seven years as a scapegoat, and because of that, made both of his sisters upset. He knelt down and wiped his sister's tears while still maintaining a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Nunnally," He assured. "I'm sure someone will save him."

"H-huh?" She stopped sobbing and looked at her brother confusingly. "Is that someone Mr. Tohdoh?"

He chuckled lightly. "I'm not sure about that." He knew Tohdoh was not a foolish man, and he would never do something like this, even if it means saving his student. "But you know, Nunnally, you shouldn't keep your feelings to yourself. You should share how you feel with Euphie."

His statement was hypocritical, and he knew how hypocritical it sounded. He was, after all, someone who would keep his feelings for himself and did not share them with anyone else, not even those who are the closest to him.

* * *

{Tokyo Prison}

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all. He was fighting the terrorist forces in Shinjuku while piloting the Lancelot. Even the testimony of Lloyd and Cecile didn't stop the Britannian soldiers from arresting him. Surprisingly, it wasn't the leader of the Purist Faction who ordered his arrest. It was one of his subordinates, a man called Kewell Soresi. As he sat in his prison cell with his hands tied behind his back, he was approached by a man. That man was none other than Jeremiah Gottwald. Naturally, Suzaku was surprised. Why would the leader of the Purist Faction visit him of all people? That doesn't make any sense at all!

Swallowing up his pride, Jeremiah began. "Suzaku Kururugi, I just came here to apologize for your arrest."

Suzaku blinked his eyes in shock. Jeremiah Gottwald was apologizing for his arrest?! "I… what?" He was confused.

The turquoise-haired man decided to change the subject. "And also I would like to thank you and your family for looking after Prince Lelouch and Princesses Nunnally and Euphemia before the war."

The brown-haired boy's eyes became the same size as baseballs. An apology and a thank you in one go? Something must have happened with Jeremiah that made him pull off a 180... "Um, your welcome."

The older man nodded before leaving. On his way to his office, he ran into a man with brown hair and blue eyes. "Kewell, you'll be leading the execution parade."

The other man's eyes widened, not believing what he had just heard. "B-but why?"

"You were the one who came up with the idea of arresting Kururugi and use him as a scapegoat to ensure the fall of the Honorary Britannian system in one go," He replied, putting his hand on his subordinate's shoulder. "Besides, I trust that you will be able to take care of the Elevens since you know that they will try to rescue Kururugi."

Kewell put his hand on his breast and bowed with a smile. "I'm honored that you trust me so much, Lord Jeremiah."

Prince Lelouch may have watched the announcement of Kururugi's arrest last night, and he assumed that his prince wasn't pleased at all. The prince and his sisters were sent to Japan to stay with the family of the late Prime Minister, and Jeremiah presumed that the young prince may have befriended the boy. He sighed; if only he knew his prince's phone number, he would have contacted him to tell him that it wasn't his doing. Still, his prince may not excuse the fact that he didn't object to Kewell's idea. He'll have to think of an excuse to make sure that his loyalty to Marianne vi Britannia and her children was real.

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

Lelouch was standing in front of a mirror, wearing a peculiar outfit. He actually went out to bring the custom that he would wear in order to conceal his identity. It was made by a professional tailor, and of course, he used his Geass on the man to make him forget that he had ever made this custom. His outfit consisted of a royal blue full-body suit with golden trimmings, black gloves, a white cravat and a black cape. He was holding a black mask with a dark visor in his right hand.

C.C was lying lazily on Lelouch's bed and eating pizza. She was observing the young man with her ever bored expression. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I will save Suzaku from his execution."

"And do you think he will join you even if you did succeed in rescuing him?" She took another pizza slice. "If anything, I bet he will arrest you right afterwards."

The former prince frowned; as much as he hated to admit it, the witch was right, even though he did consider that before. She continued before he could respond. "If he tries to arrest you, reveal your identity to him."

He turned to her, eyes blazing in fury. "Out of the question!"

She just shrugged. "I'm only giving you some advice and I'm not even asking for a simple thank you," She stated. "Just don't act frantically if he declined the offer to join you."

He said nothing in reply and went inside his bathroom to change into his casual clothing. When he got out, he put his custom inside a gray bag and then headed out of his room. He met his sister Euphie before going out.

"Going out again, Lelouch?"

"Yeah." He simply replied before heading towards the door.

"Um, Lelouch?"

He turned back to her. "Yes?"

"I'm sure Suzaku didn't murder Clovis," She stated, her eyes almost becoming teary. She then held her hands closer to her chest. "I just hope that he would be somehow acquitted of his false accusation. I don't want to lose anyone important to me anymore." She burst out crying.

The raven-haired prince looked at her sadly; once again, his pink-haired sister cried. He clenched his fist tightly before turning away from her. "Don't worry, Euphie," He assured her. "I'm sure someone will be able to save Suzaku."

She then looked at him confusingly through teary eyes. "Huh? Who d-do y-you mean b-by that?"

He gave her no answer before heading out of the door, leaving a very confused sister behind.

* * *

{Tokyo Tower}

Kallen and Naoto were seen standing a little bit farther from their friends. Three of their friends decided to show up. One of them was a man about Naoto's age who had black afro-styled hair and black eyes. His name was Kaname Ohgi. Another one had light brown hair and was muscular, and he goes by the name of Toru Yoshida. The third one was a man with blue-hair and he was known as Kento Sugiyama.

It was nearly 4:00 PM. The resistance group will be meeting with 'Zero' very soon enough. Suddenly, Kallen heard her name being called on the intercom. Confused, she headed to the kiosk to see why was she called. The receptionist gave her a cellphone. She looked at it in confusion; just what was Lelouch planning to do? She was startled when the phone started ringing. On the screen, it said 'Zero'. She picked up the phone and heard Lelouch's voice speak to her. He told her to get on a certain train to meet him there with her group.

* * *

{On one of the trains}

Lelouch has already used his Geass on the passengers to make them ignore anything that was about to happen on the train.

As Kallen and her group entered the train, the phone that was given to her by 'Zero' started ringing. Somewhat annoyed, she picked it up. 'Zero' asked her about what she sees on her right and what she sees on her left. She stated that on her right was the Britannian city and on her left was the Japanese city. The Britannian city was stolen away from the Japanese and built on their sacrifices, while the Japanese city was nothing more than desiccated remnants after the Britannians sucked it dry.

The raven-haired prince resisted the urge to chuckle; her answer actually amused him. "Good answer," He replied. "Now, come to the front trailer. We shall meet there."

The group of terrorists made their way to the front trailer where they saw a lone figure with his back turned to them. The female redhead frowned as what she deduced turned out to be true._ I was right after all._

"Are you Zero?" Naoto asked.

The figure did not reply, and this caused someone else to ask the same question. The mysterious person didn't answer this time either. It wasn't until the train entered a tunnel that the figure turned to face them, startling them. The Stadtfeld heiress was stunned at how the violet-eyed boy looked like. He looked like a superhero with the cape and the mask.

"Greetings," He bowed to them. "I am Zero."

The older redhead blinked his eyes at the man's disguise. _A mask? _He straightened himself before stepping forward. "And I am Naoto Kozuki, leader of the Kozuki Resistance cell," He bowed as well. "I'm glad we have finally met, Zero."

"Likewise," Zero observed the older man. _Is he Kallen's older brother? _Lelouch thought. _And Kozuki? Does Kallen use this surname during her resistance activities as well? _He assumed that Kozuki was the maiden name of their late mother. "Did you enjoy my tour?"

"Your… tour?" Ohgi asked confusingly with a frown.

"This tour was meant to show you the differences between the Settlement," He extended his left arm. "And the Ghetto." He extended his right arm.

The older redhead scowled at the masked man's physique after he raised his arms. He was scrawny and it made him wonder if the man was anorexic. The younger redhead, however, was blushing as she looked at the suit Lelouch was wearing. _That suit looks really tight!_

"We know that the differences between us and them are huge," The afro-haired man stated, stepping forward. "This is why we-"

"Resist them?" Zero cut him off. "Meager resistance will not result in the downfall of Britannia," He stated. "Your resistance against Britannia has only served in their entertainment, because for them, they are playing a game called 'Squash the Bugs'; a game that they always win."

"Did you just call us 'bugs'?!" Sugiyama demanded angrily, clenching his fist.

As much as he hated to admit it, Naoto had to agree with what the masked man said. For seven years, only one victory was accomplished against Britannia, and the one who made this victory possible earned the moniker 'Tohdoh of the Miracles'. Tohdoh didn't have any Knightmare Frames at the time, which was ironic considering the fact that the Japan Liberation Front has advanced Knightmares right now and yet, they weren't able to deliver a single victory against Britannia ever since that day. Worst of all, Clovis wasn't a renowned strategist like Tohdoh was. All of the late prince's victories were because of the advanced Knightmare Frames that he has deployed… and now they even have a much more advanced Knightmare…

But as he stated before, with a man like Zero, they may have a chance of taking Japan back. However, the man in the mask said something about the downfall of Britannia. Was this man planning to bring Britannia down? "I agree with what you have said, Zero," Naoto admitted. "But you also said something about bringing the downfall of Britannia. Care to explain?"

The masked man nodded. "I plan on obliterating Britannia," He then turned away from them before looking up. "That is something I have promised myself I will do seven years ago."

Naoto raised an eyebrow; this was his cue. "But why do you want to obliterate Britannia?" He asked. "You must have a good reason for that."

Zero paused for a second before nodding. "Indeed," He affirmed. "I do have a reason for that."

"And that is?" Kallen inquired.

He sighed and lowered his head. "Britannia was responsible for the death of someone very important," He clenched his fist. "And that's why I plan on destroying it."

"So, it's a personal grudge?" Ohgi inquired.

"You could say that," The mysterious man nodded. "But, I'm sure that some of you are opposing Britannia not only because you want to get your country back, but also because you have lost people who are dear to you. Am I right?"

None of them uttered a word after hearing that, and unbeknownst to Kallen and her brother, Lelouch was eying them. The young prince knew that won't be enough to earn their trust, so he decided to continue on. "I have also realized that by destroying Britannia, everyone will live in a world where people are kinder to each other."

The afro-haired man cleared his throat. "I hate to sound like a pessimist, but utopia is an illusion."

The young man turned his head to Ohgi and then chuckled. "But I never said that I seek a utopian world," He proclaimed. "I'm not Platon." He chuckled once more. "What I meant to say is, with bringing down the Britannian system and everything it stands for, people will start treating each other with much more kindness."

"And how can you be so sure about that?" Yoshida asked, folding his arms.

"The Britannian Emperor is a firm supporter of Social Darwinism," The masked prince stated, clenching his fist as his remembered his own father. "That very idealism has led many Britannians to believe that they are superior to people of other ethnicities simply because they are Britannians, the citizens of the most powerful country in the world that controls one third of it."

The female redhead bit her lips; her classmate's goal was simply far too... unrealistic. "But how are you going to bring down the Britannian system?" She asked.

"I'm going to obliterate Britannia through revolution."

Sugiyama frowned and folded his arms. "But that's what we've been doing for a long time!"

The man behind the mask shook his head. "I have told you before that you are merely resisting them," He reminded them. "There's a difference between resistance and revolution. Resistance is when you are fighting back a threat. Revolution is to fight against a threat in order to vanquish it."

"But revolution against Britannia seems almost impossible, especially for our cell," Ohgi admitted with a scowl. "We don't have powerful Knightmares like them... and we have lost the Sutherlands we have gotten in the skirmish when that white Knightmare appeared." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Zero sighed. "I can't blame you for ejecting from the Sutherlands after that Knightmare appeared," He stated. "It was the wisest decision to make. That white Knightmare was obviously much more advanced and dangerous than Sutherlands." _And that means trouble for me if it tries to interfere with my plans again. _He thought to himself grimly.

"Let's forget about that Knightmare for now, okay?" Naoto suggested before turning to the man in black. "Zero, pardon me for what am I going to say, but..." He drew in a deep breath and then let it out. "The method you're going to use in order to make a world where people treat each other with kindness is kinda... hypocritical."

The other members immediately tensed after hearing what their leader said. His sister resisted the urge to face-palm. _Try to control your bluntness for once, Naoto!_

Surprisingly, the masked man didn't seem to have felt insulted. "Oh? How come?"

"Well... revolution may lead to war, and war means blood and destruction."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Zero stated. "Before creation, there must be destruction, and this destruction will leave ashes in its place. As a result, a new Britannia will be created, and thus, a new world."

The resistance group remained silent for a while. The members were beginning to consider what the caped man said. The only female of the current group, however, didn't seem very sure about that...

The leader of the group sighed and nodded, smiling at Zero. "Zero, it seems that both of us share the same dream," He admitted. "And that's why, I have decided to join you."

"What?!" They all exclaimed.

"However," The older Kozuki's expression turned into a stern one, an expression that reminded the exiled prince of Tohdoh. "In order for us to work with you, we must first know who you are. So, can you please remove your mask and show us your face?"

The former prince sighed; he knew this was coming, but he was prepared. "Fine. I'll show you..." He said. "... my power."

Ohgi frowned. "Your... power?"

"Yes," He started. "Tomorrow night, I'm going to deliver a miracle for the whole world to behold."

Sugiyama scoffed. "Sorry, but I stopped believing in miracles since the Miracle of Itsukushima."

Yoshida turned to his blue-haired friend. "So you're saying that you've given up hope on getting Japan back?"

The other man scowled. "And you're saying that this joker can create a miracle that could rival Tohdoh-san's?"

"W-well, I..." The brown-haired man stammered, not expecting such a question from his friend.

"I understand that you do not trust or believe in me," Zero interrupted them. "But in order to make this miracle happen, I will need your help."

Naoto eyed the masked man. _I guess he wants us to earn his trust before he could tell us who he is. _He nodded in understanding. "Okay, Zero. What do you want us to do?"

"But Naoto-" Ohgi began before getting cut off by Zero.

"Alright. Here is the plan..."

* * *

{Ashford Academy}

Their reactions were very understandable, Lelouch thought. His best friend's execution parade will no doubt have many Britannian soldiers guarding the convoy in order to prevent anyone from rescuing Suzaku. Whoever tries to do that will surely meet their end right then and there. The Britannians will have no mercy on anyone who tries to pull off a stunt like that. He hoped that Kallen and her brother would agree on helping him at least.

Speaking of Naoto, Lelouch seems to have taken a liking to the older man. He seemed like an understanding man, not willing to trust him so easily, yet wanted to know his reasons for fighting. If Naoto and his group decided to join him permanently, he might make him his vice-commander. Yes, he will create an army that could rival the empire's mighty one.

The young man's musings were interrupted when he saw a blue-haired boy running towards him. "Rivalz," He addressed his friend. "How's it going?"

"You bastard!"

Lelouch blinked his eyes in surprise, not quite expecting that. "I... what?"

"That truck was a good way for you to get into the ghettos and play chess against the Elevens, right?"

The raven-haired boy had a straight face expression for a moment, before changing into a chuckle. "Yeah," He then scratched the back of his head. "But it wasn't a good idea since they didn't have enough money."

"Well, at least you had your fun," The blue-haired boy said with a pout. "I wish I was with you when you crushed those Elevens."

Lelouch scowled at that and he balled his fist. _One day, everyone's view will change._

* * *

**You know, this chapter was going to include Suzaku's rescue, but I've decided to include that in the next chapter because this chapter would drag on. Honestly, I still haven't thought of a flashback scene that would be suitable for the next chapter…**

**Now I'm satisfied with this chapter! :)  
**

**I just keep coming back and rewrite the chapter...**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	5. He Who Will Lead the Rebellion

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed! Your thoughts on the story are very much appreciated.**

**To Republic: Your ideas are very nice. I do know that Joseph Fennet was involved in Code-R in the light novels, and I plan to use that to my advantage in this story, but in a different way. Sorry, but thanks for your suggestions anyway.**

* * *

{Kururugi Shrine, 2009 ATB}

"Come on, Lelouch!" Nunnally begged her brother with a wide smile. "It's going to be fun!"

"No way!" He objected. "I had enough of playing this silly game!"

Unfortunately for Lelouch, he had to keep up with the three girls' antics. Suzaku wasn't bothered as much as Lelouch by their antics. For this particular day, they must play the 'wedding game' with the girls. Euphemia was the bride and Suzaku was the groom, and they really liked it (Even though the Japanese boy felt embarrassed). The next 'wedding' was between Lelouch and Kaguya, much to the prince's dismay. He was forced into wearing traditional Japanese clothes, not that he hated them. He actually found them to be pretty comfortable.

Outside the residence of the Britannian royals, two men were seen sitting and drinking sake together. These men were none other than Kyoshiro Tohdoh and Ryoga Senba. The former was smiling as he heard the raven-haired prince complain to the others about not wanting to play anymore, to which the others laughed at him.

"Hearing children quarrel with each other is really nice." Senba stated with a smile.

"Indeed." Tohdoh sipped more from his cup.

The older man sighed. "How I wish I have seized the chance before."

"You mean you had someone before?" The black-haired man raised an eyebrow while asking that question.

"Yes, I did," The old man admitted. "But I didn't have the courage to ask her, and, well... she found someone else."

"I see," The younger man nodded in apology. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Tohdoh," He drank more sake; his face turned red after that dose. "Just… promise me… that you… won't become… like me…"

The stern man slowly nodded at his friend and comrade before sliding his arm under his friend's in order to support him. The man was clearly too drunk to be able to walk properly. In fact, he seemed unable to even stand steadily. On the other hand, Tohdoh has a high level of alcohol tolerance, something that made his comrades envious of him.

"How disgusting."

Tohdoh shot a glare at the man who said that. The man who said that had a black hair, black eyes, black moustache and black beard.

"To see Japanese children playing with Britannian brats," He continued. "Tohdoh, why don't you stop your student from playing with them?"

"And why should I?" Tohdoh asked back. "Suzaku and Kaguya clearly enjoy their time with the royals."

Kusakabe frowned. "Aren't you afraid they'll influence them in a bad way?"

The other man resisted the urge to chuckle; Kusakabe clearly doesn't know anything. "Actually, they were the ones who were influenced by Suzaku and Kaguya."

"Listen to me… Kusakabe…" Senba said, still in his intoxicated state. "If you dare… to do anything… to these… children... I will… kill you..."

Said man only snorted. "You're on the verge of having a hangover," He pointed out to the older man. "Don't waste your breath on empty threats."

"Kusakabe," Tohdoh called, his face became sterner than before. "I suggest you drop it."

The other man just huffed and folded his arms. "Fine, I'll drop it," He stated before pointing his finger at his comrade. "But don't say I didn't warn you." He then walked away, leaving a frowning Tohdoh behind. The man just shook his head before walking away with Senba.

{The next day}

"Today, I'll be teaching you how to play a game that I love so much," The young prince grinned before showing them a somewhat dirty chessboard. "Chess."

His two sisters groaned in annoyance while the Japanese children blinked their eyes. "You like playing chess, Lelouch?" Suzaku asked, not quite believing it. That game was for people with strategic minds, so it was hard for the Japanese boy to believe that a nine-year-old could play that game.

"Yes, I do." He was still grinning.

Kaguya puffed her cheeks and folded her arms. "I don't like chess," She stated bluntly. "It's so boring and mind-racking."

The raven-haired boy turned to her, scowling. For a six-year-old, she sure has some 'interesting' vocabulary. "It's better than playing girly games every day!" He snapped.

"In that case, how about I play with you, Prince Lelouch?" A man asked.

They all turned to the one who said that. It turned out to be none other than Kusakabe. Lelouch shot the man a disgusted glare, while his sisters blinked their eyes in confusion. The Japanese children were actually surprised to hear Kusakabe challenge the young prince to a chess match.

The Britannian boy's disgust towards the man stemmed from the fact that the Japanese man was being extremely racist towards him and his sisters. He assumed that the man's attitude towards them was due to the fact that they were Britannian royals, the children of the Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, the most powerful nation on Earth. Unlike the case with Suzaku, it seems Lelouch will never reach an agreement with Kusakabe.

"Kusakabe-san." The Japanese boy addressed the man.

Lelouch snorted. "Like you can defeat me."

The black-haired man raised an eyebrow, amused at the boy's arrogance. "Oh? Try me, boy."

The boy frowned but reluctantly agreed. The other children gathered around to watch the match, even Kaguya who thought that chess was boring.

The Japanese man would put up a fight before eventually getting defeated by his younger opponent. After seven matches, the bearded man sighed and smiled at the young prince, acknowledging his prowess as a chess player, much to Lelouch's surprise. He then told the prince that he would like to speak to him in private; the boy was skeptical at first, but agreed in the end.

"So, what is it that you want to talk to me about?" Lelouch asked.

"I was wondering, Prince Lelouch, do you want to seek revenge on your father?"

That took the young boy by surprise. Revenge on his father? He never thought about taking revenge on his father despite everything that has happened. "I… I'm not sure." He replied honestly.

Kusakabe raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Really?" He asked in an almost mocking tone. "I find that surprising."

The boy glared at the man. "What are you trying to imply by your question?"

"What I'm trying to say is… haven't you thought about leading a rebellion against your father?"

Lelouch's violet eyes widened. "Leading a rebellion… against Father?" That thought has never crossed his mind. As much as he disliked that man, he had to admit that Kusakabe's notion may not have been bad. But wait… "Why have you suggested this to me?"

The Japanese man smiled; the boy was very smart, and that could come in handy in the future. "I want to help you, young Lelouch."

The prince's eyes widened; help him? His eyes then became angry. "Like I'll ask for your help if I ever wanted to lead a rebellion against Father!"

A small frown appeared on the bearded man's face; the boy was also very stubborn, which will make cooperating with him a hard task. "This is how you repay me for suggesting that to you?" He asked chidingly. "And here I thought we have finally reached an agreement."

"I don't trust you, Kusakabe," He proclaimed brusquely. "How would I know that you won't betray me when you don't need me anymore?"

Kusakabe had to admit that this boy began to impress him. "I assure you that I won't betray you, young Lelouch."

"That is enough!" Someone snapped. Both of them recognized the voice as the one belonging to Kyoshiro Tohdoh. "Kusakabe, what are you trying to convince the boy to do?"

"You have probably heard what I've told the boy, Tohdoh, so there's no need to pretend to not know."

The other man frowned. "Last night, you were warning me about the Britannian children and them trying to influence Suzaku and Kaguya, and today you were trying to influence the young prince!"

The bearded man just shrugged. "I was mistaken," He admitted, though not in a sincere way. "But Lelouch, if you ever changed your mind, make sure to inform me, alright?" He waved goodbye to the young prince and walked away.

Suzaku's sensei put his hand on his forehead and shook his head. He was tired of dealing with Kusakabe and his antics. He then turned to the young prince. "Lelouch, please don't be affected by Kusakabe's… 'Spiel'."

Lelouch just glared at the retreating figure of Kusakabe...

* * *

**He Who Will Lead the Rebellion**

{Government Bureau, March 24th 2017 ATB}

The woman who fought Kallen in Shinjuku was actually a member of the Purist Faction. Her name was Villetta Nu, and she was probably Jeremiah's most loyal subordinate, and also a close friend of his. But just because she was his subordinate doesn't mean that she can't question his decisions…

She went to her leader's office and knocked the door. When she heard his affirmation, she opened it and entered. He smiled at her. "Villetta. How can I help you?"

"Well, I've been thinking about something, Lord Jeremiah," She began. "Why did you let Kewell lead the execution parade? Your great faith in him wasn't the only reason for that, was it?"

He actually expected his most loyal subordinate to ask him such a question, but he was prepared for it. "You're right, Villetta," He responded. "My strong faith in him wasn't the only factor as to why I let him lead the execution parade. It was also because he was the one who suggested that we should capture Kururugi in order to ensure the downfall of the Honorary Britannian system in one fell swoop," He then leaned back in his seat. "Suzaku Kururugi, as you know, was the only child of the last Prime Minister of Japan. He is now regarded as a hero in the eyes of the Elevens."

She nodded, understanding her leader's decision. "Yes, I am aware of that, Lord Jeremiah."

Inside, the turquoise-haired man couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself. He did agree on executing an innocent man just because they couldn't find the real murderer of Prince Clovis. But a dreadful feeling was gnawing on him ever since he found Prince Clovis dead in the G-1 Base. Even though he pushed that thought away, he still couldn't help but feel that it was Prince Lelouch who murdered Prince Clovis.

_But why would he kill his own brother? _He thought. _What does Clovis has to do with revenge against the Emperor? _Then he remembered what happened in Shinjuku. _He must have killed Clovis for the massacre he initiated due to some terrorists stealing a poison gas canister. _His eyes narrowed as he thought more about it. _But… was it necessary to kill everyone in the ghetto? Did that thing even contain poison gas?_

His musings were interrupted by another knock on the door. He affirmed again and the door opened. A man with long blond hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes entered.

"Diethard," Jeremiah addressed the man. "I take it that you are prepared for Kururugi's transfer to his court martial?"

"Indeed I am," Diethard replied with a straight face. "Though I must ask; is it alright to let Kewell Soresi lead the parade?"

"Yes," Came the simple reply from Jeremiah. "Kewell will not tolerate any rescue attempts by the Elevens, and will execute them without any mercy."

The blond man could only nod in understanding. He was actually very disapproving of what the Purist Faction was doing in order to achieve their goals. If only there was someone who could stop them from achieving their ignoble objectives…

* * *

{Shinjuku Ghetto}

Lelouch, dressed as Zero stood on a pile of rubble. He told the terrorists to meet him in Shinjuku, yet he wasn't sure if any of them would show up, not even Kallen… unless she snuck out of home behind her brother's back…

His worries were proved wrong when he saw Kallen, Naoto and their Afro-haired friend approach him. The older redhead sighed before scratching the back of his in slight embarrassment. "Zero… I'm sorry I couldn't convince the others to come and help," He apologized. "If only you can give us some time-"

"That won't be necessary," The masked man cut him off. "You three will do."

The resistance members were taken aback by this. They were only four people, and the Britannians were many. How can they possibly rescue Kururugi with their limited number?! Zero was probably someone who has never heard the saying 'Abundance overcomes courage', or maybe he doesn't differentiate between bravery and recklessness.

"I know what you're all going to say," He spoke before they could say anything. "But if you can help me, we will be able to save Suzaku Kururugi," He pointed downwards to a car. "I want this to look like Clovis' car. Obviously, you must finish it before the start of the execution parade tonight."

"EH?!" The three of them shouted in disbelief.

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement}

The street was lined with loyal Britannian civilians. The convicted murderer of Clovis la Britannia was seen on a convoy, wearing a white straightjacket with a shock collar around his neck. Two soldiers in grey uniforms were pointing their guns at him; precautions were necessary, even when the convict had his hands tied behind his back. Behind the convoy were two Sutherlands, and in front of it was one Sutherland. The one in the front was piloted by Kewell Soresi, and the ones in the back were piloted by Jeremiah and Villetta.

Someone contacted the man leading the parade and told him about a vehicle approaching the convoy; it looks like the Elevens were trying to pull a 'rescue attempt' after all. The brown-haired man was informed that the vehicle was actually Prince Clovis' car. "Prince Clovis' car?" He repeated in surprise before smiling. "Well, it looks like our 'rescuer' is a harlequin playing superhero!" He joked. "Alright then. All forces! Halt!"

The forces did the deed. The car that was masqueraded as the late prince's car stopped in front of the convoy.

"You dare violate His Highness's transport?" Soresi asked angrily. "Come out of there and show us yourself!"

The Britannian flag burned away, revealing a figure clad in a cape and a mask standing on the car, surprising everyone with his dramatic appearance.

"I am Zero!" He announced before looking at the man in front of him. He was surprised that it wasn't Jeremiah who was leading the transport. _Damn it! And here I thought I was going to teach Jeremiah a lesson!_

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

The two younger sisters of Lelouch were watching the execution parade on TV in sorrow. The green-haired woman was also sitting on a chair and watching with them, though her expression indicated that she was bored, which was not something new. But when the parade suddenly stopped and a car was seen approaching the transport, the two sisters' sadness was replaced by confusion. The other woman just raised an eyebrow, wondering what Lelouch was going to do. When the flag burned away, a masked figure was seen standing on the car.

_"I am Zero!" _He declared.

"H-huh?" Nunnally wondered in surprise. "Who is this guy?"

Euphemia could only stare at the TV with narrowing eyes. _This is the man who will rescue Suzaku?!_

C.C smiled. _Well, Marianne and Charles, It looks like your son has a flair for the theatrics._

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement}

"Well, _Zero_, I had enough of your show!" He aimed his gun upwards and fired; four Sutherlands dropped down, surrounding the fake car and aiming their Assault Rifles on the masked man.

Kallen gasped in panic while Naoto's and Ohgi's eyes narrowed in great concern over the girl. Zero, however, didn't even flinch. "Had enough of my show?" The masked man repeated. "But my show hasn't started yet."

Surprisingly, some of the people in the crowd laughed at that. The man leading the parade shot them a glare before turning back to Zero. "You dare mock me?!" He asked in fury. "How about you take off that silly mask and show us your ugly face?"

The mysterious man chuckled. "Ugly?" He repeated. "This is the first time someone calls my face ugly," He stated. "Pretty much everyone thinks I'm quite the charmer; in fact, I have my own group of fangirls."

Kallen looked up before shaking her head and sighing; it looks like her friend wasn't taking this seriously at all. Naoto and Ohgi shared the same thoughts as well.

More people laughed this time, and it made the brown-haired man grit his teeth in exasperation. _This guy is grinding my gears! _"Silence!" He shouted at the people. Some loyal subjects they were for laughing at His Highness's funeral.

"But if you want to see my face so badly, then I will gladly show it to you." He raised his gloved hand to his mask, before quickly raising it up in the air, snapping his fingers. The compartment behind him fell apart, revealing a familiar red canister.

Soresi's eyes were wide in horror at what he saw. Jeremiah came out of his Knightmare, panic washed over his face. "Kewell! You must be careful!" He refrained from saying anything more for obvious reasons.

"I know, Jeremiah!" He shouted back, gritting his teeth in frustration. _This masked clown… he has taken every civilian here hostage without them even knowing it! _He took out his pistol and shakily aimed it at Zero.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Kewell," The masked man proclaimed. "You know what will happen if you shoot me."

The Purist Faction's leader's eyes were narrowing in shock at what was happening; it seems that his subordinate has lost control of the situation. But the voice of Zero… it sounded familiar somehow… _Prince Lelouch…? _

"Fine, Zero," He spat, willing to listen to the 'terrorist'. "What do you want?"

"A simple exchange," He responded. "This canister for Private Kururugi."

"You are indeed a joker," The brown-haired man said in annoyance. "Do you really expect me to hand over the murderer of Prince Clovis for something like this? You must be out of your mind."

"Wrong, Kewell," Zero growled. "Private Kururugi wasn't the one who murdered Clovis," He proclaimed. "You and Jeremiah framed this man to ensure the downfall of the Honorary Britannian system in one go as you only want pure-blooded Britannians to be in position of power."

The crowd gasped at this revelation, and some of them began whispering amongst themselves. Soresi wanted to do nothing more than rip his hair in frustration and anger at the masked man. Just how did he know about that?!

"I can assure you I have nothing to do with Kururugi's capture," The leader of the Purist Faction stated. "Kewell arrested Kururugi and told us that he was the murderer of Prince Clovis."

The brown-haired man looked back at his leader in pure shock. "J-J-J-Jeremiah…?" The subordinate stuttered in disbelief, feeling betrayed. Even Villetta looked equally shocked by her leader's statement.

Lelouch was taken aback by what the former guard of his mother said. _So, Jeremiah wasn't the one who framed Suzaku, _He felt ashamed for thinking that. _And it seems that he knows that I am Zero. _He smirked. "Well, Lord Kewell?" He called, causing the man he addressed to turn to him. "Do you want to know who was responsible for the death of your 'precious' prince?" Before Kewell could say anything, he cut him off. "You do not need to look farther, for I am the one who murdered Prince Clovis!"

Loud gasps and whispers were heard in the crowds of 'loyal' Britannian civilians. Jeremiah's subordinates were shocked at this revelation, while the leader himself had a deep frown on his face. Kallen's hands began trembling on the steering wheel, and her brother and Ohgi looked worried to the extreme.

_So, you did kill your own brother, Your Highness. _The orange-eyed man thought grimly.

"L-Lelouch… if we happen to get out of here alive... I'll strangle you!" The female redhead proclaimed.

"K-Kallen!" Naoto shouted, worried about his sister.

"That's way too dangerous!" Ohgi stated; sweat covering his face in concern. "There's no way they're gonna get out of there now!"

"So, what do you say, Lord Kewell?" Zero asked, not showing any signs of fear at all. "Are you going to do the trade or not?"

The man leading the transport regained his composure and aimed his gun at the masked man. "You… you will pay the price for insulting the crown, clown!"

"Be careful, Kewell," The masked prince warned. "If you were to shoot me here, it will all go public. I mean, you don't want the people to know about 'Amber' now, do you?"

"W-what?!" The brown-haired man stuttered in confusion. "Who the hell is Amber?!"

Zero tapped the car, causing Kallen to move it forward. Lelouch resisted the urge to chuckle at the man. _You have brought this on yourself, Kewell. _"You don't have to feign ignorance," He declared. "If you don't want people to know about 'Amber', then you will do everything in your power to let us escape." He ordered, activating his Geass by opening a small compartment in the left side of his mask.

Before Kewell could react, he was taken over by the power of Geass. "Fine," He complied. "Release Kururugi at once!"

The half-Japanese girl gasped in shock. The turquoise-haired man looked equally taken aback by his subordinate's sudden compliance. One moment he was confused about 'Amber', the second he was letting Kururugi off. Something was wrong…

"K-Kewell!" The silver-haired woman called in disbelief.

"Let Kururugi go!" The brown-haired man shouted. "Don't let anyone get in his way or Zero's!"

"Lord Jeremiah!" Villetta shouted. "Do something!"

Said man snapped out of his confusion. "Kewell! You can't do this!"

"NO!" The brown-haired man screamed. "Kururugi must escape with Zero! No one must get in their way!"

Despite their confusion, the foot soldiers let the young man go. With a frown on his face, the Honorary Britannian slowly approached the masked man. He tried to ask him about his identity, but the collar shocked him. Lelouch frowned behind his mask; the nerve of those damn Britannians, using such a thing to prevent his friend from speaking.

The half-breed who was wearing a white chauffer's uniform and sunglasses to conceal her identity walked to Zero and told him it was time. He nodded at her before holding Suzaku tightly. Both Zero and Kallen released some hooks in order to get to the side of the road, but not before the masked man pressed a button, causing the canister to open and release a green gas. The crowd panicked and ran away.

All this time, the Geass-controlled man prevented everyone from interfering with Suzaku and Zero's escape, except for one and that one was none other than Jeremiah Gottwald. The man managed to escape from Kewell's madness, but his intention wasn't capturing Zero. He wanted to meet with Zero and confirm his suspicions about him.

He saw the masked man, the Eleven and a woman jump in a truck. He went after the truck, but much to his surprise, the back of the truck opened and released a huge net that engulfed the Sutherland and knocked it down.

Jeremiah groaned loudly in frustration and then shook his head. _Fine, my prince. Hopefully you will have some time to discuss what do you want me to do... that is if you still want me to help you in your rebellion._

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

Nunnally and Euphemia were gaping at the screen; even though they were relieved about Suzaku being cleared of his supposed crime, they couldn't help but feel stunned at what that man Zero has done. The pink-haired princess, however, put her hand under her chin in thought as she remembered what her brother has told her yesterday.

_"Don't worry, Euphie. I'm sure someone will be able to save Suzaku."_

_But how did he know about that 'someone'? _She asked herself. _Is he working with that 'someone'? Or is he THAT 'someone'?! _She winced at the last thought. _But… why would he kill Clovis…?_

C.C was impressed by Lelouch's display, but couldn't help but wonder what or who 'Amber' was. She then looked at Lelouch's sisters and noticed the older one was in deep thought. The witch smiled. _Well, Lelouch, you ought to have a good lie to tell your sister._

* * *

{Student Council Clubhouse}

Four members of the Student Council were stunned at what has happened. Rivalz was the first one to snap out of his stunned state. He grinned before turning to the girls. "Did you see what that Zero guy did?!" He asked excitedly. "That was so cool!"

"Shh!" Shirley said, putting her finger in front of her mouth before pouting at her friend. "Keep your voice down! If anyone heard you say that out loud, you'll be considered a traitor!"

"T-that's right, Rivalz," A girl with green hair wearing glasses agreed timidly. "That p-person Zero is now considered a wanted c-criminal f-for killing Prince Clovis."

"I know, Nina," He said before turning back to the TV and grinning again. "But I am so impressed with what that guy did! I mean, the terrorists couldn't do anything against the Britannian Military for seven years, and then this Zero guy pops out of nowhere and does something in one day the Elevens weren't able to do in more than half a decade!" He inhaled before exhaling from sheer excitement.

The orange-haired girl face-palmed while the mousy girl looked horrified at what the boy said. He knew that he could spill in front of them since they were his friends, but if someone else heard him… it may not turn out well for him. Obviously.

The fourth person in the room was a tall young woman who has blonde hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be in deep thought at the spectacle she has just witnessed on TV. That Zero person piqued her interest, but not in the same way as Rivalz's. She actually had a very good idea on who he might be… _Just don't do anything more reckless than that..._

Of course, she can't hold on to that hope since he has finally started his rebellion...

* * *

{Narita Mountains}

The Japan Liberation Front or JLF for short had some notable war heroes amongst its ranks. The most prominent member was none other than Kyoshiro Tohdoh, the man who was responsible for what was known as the 'Miracle of Itsukushima' later on. Along with many of his comrades, he was watching the execution parade of his student, Suzaku Kururugi. Before the execution parade was broadcasted on live TV, some of his comrades chastised him for not doing anything in order to save his student; one of them was Josui Kusakabe. He merely stated that there was a difference between miracles and foolishness, and anyone who may try to rescue the young Honorary Britannian was a fool.

And as he watched the broadcast, a fool did appear, and not just any fool, but a fool wearing a mask and a flashy outfit. That fool called himself Zero, and he proved himself to be the biggest fool ever by admitting to be the true murderer of Clovis.

In spite of all of that, Tohdoh of the Miracles was surprised when the masked man managed to successfully escape with his student, and what shocked him more was the fact that Kewell Soresi started shooting at his comrades to stop them from following Zero. Just what or who was 'Amber'?

"Tohdoh, how about we ask Zero to work with us?" Kusakabe asked, interrupting the man's musings.

"Out of the question," He replied firmly. "Just because he was able to save Suzaku doesn't mean we should work with him."

The bearded man frowned deeply and muttered something under his breath, but his comrade didn't seem to care as he stood up and walked away. While walking, he saw his old friend, Ryoga Senba. He smiled widely at him. "Senba, can I have a word with you, please?"

The white-haired man blinked but nodded nevertheless. Tohdoh led his friend to a secluded room and locked the door; the older man was confused but assumed that his leader didn't want anyone to know about it. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

The man of miracles took a deep breath then sighed. "I have a very good guess on the masked fool's identity."

Senba's eyes widened in surprise; if Tohdoh had a guess on the identity of Zero, then he must be someone that his friend knows personally. "Who do you think he is?"

After a few moments of silence, the black-haired man spoke. "Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

The older man was taken aback by the younger man's answer, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. "To think that he listened to Kusakabe of all people…" He shook his head.

"No, Senba," Tohdoh disagreed. "I don't think Lelouch listened to Kusakabe. The war was probably the main reason as to why he made up his mind on starting a rebellion against his own country," He then frowned. "After all, Charles zi Britannia triggered a war on Japan with the knowledge that his children were still there."

"Indeed," The white-haired man nodded in agreement. "But still, maybe Kusakabe's words helped as well."

"Perhaps."

* * *

{In a hideout}

Suzaku did not like this at all. He was saved by a madman after all! Of all the people who could have saved him, he was saved by a crazy man wearing a ridiculous mask and a gaudy attire. He told his men to wait in another room so he could speak to him in private. Zero was standing on a pile of rubble as he looked down at him. Suzaku was frowning at the man in the mask. Just who was this man anyway?!

"Private Kururugi," The masked man addressed him. "It seems you were treated badly by the Britannians."

The Honorary Britannian just ignored him. "Are you the one who murdered Prince Clovis?"

"Yes, I am," He confirmed. "Why shouldn't I murder him? He did order a full-scale massacre in the Shinjuku Ghetto."

The brown-haired boy's eyes widened in shock at this revelation, but he wasn't going to be swayed so easily. "Why should I believe you?" He asked him with a glare. "You did release poison gas on innocent civilians, after all."

The masked man shrugged. "It was nothing more than a bluff," He stated. "In the end, no one was harmed, right?"

"In the end, huh?" The Japanese boy repeated with a frown. "I guess that's all that matters to you."

He ignored his best friend before extending his arm to him. "Join me, Private Kururugi. Britannia is a vile dominion that is unworthy of your loyalty."

He kept his glare on the man. "Even so… I don't want to give up on my ideals so easily."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "And what might they be?"

Suzaku turned away from the masked man. "After the Second Pacific War, I've lost my friends," He began. "I blamed myself for not being able to protect them, and so I've joined the military in order to repent for my inability to save them," He then turned back to Zero. "But now, I found out they are still alive, and decided to renew my vow of protecting them by staying in the military."

The prince was stunned to hear such a thing from his friend, and felt somewhat touched that he was doing this for them. However… "I don't think your friends are going to be safe if you remained in the military," He stated. "In fact, you could endanger their lives."

He shook his head. "No," He replied. "I will be able to protect them."

The man in the mask folded his arms. "May I ask who are you trying to protect them from?"

"From… you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, Zero."

"And these friends of yours… are they the Britannian royals who were sent here as political hostages eight years ago?"

Shock and fear washed over the green-eyed boy. His body trembled in terror; he could not allow this maniac to kill Lelouch and his sisters just like he killed their brother Prince Clovis. He must protect them at all costs! If only he knew were they lived... but he saw the cape-wearing man shrugging. "Relax; I have no intention of killing them."

"I'm not inclined to believe you," He proclaimed harshly. "You did kill their brother."

"I did mention that he initiated a massacre on the people of Shinjuku," He countered. "All what I did was punish him for that heinous crime he has committed."

Suzaku folded his arms. "So, you have killed him in the name of justice?"

"You can say that."

The Honorary Britannian just shook his head. "I wouldn't call someone who took innocent civilians hostage and then terrorized them with colored smoke a hero of justice," He gave the man one last glare before turning to walk away. "At any rate, I'm going back to my court-martial," He stated. "If I don't, that will give the Purist Faction or anyone else the chance to crack down on Honorary Britannians and Elevens."

The exiled prince was shocked to hear such a thing. "You idiot!" He barked. "Even with the evidence that is provided in your favor, you'll still be executed!"

The curly-haired boy stopped and chuckled. "With the stunt you've just pulled off?" He inquired mockingly. "Please; they'll have no choice but to let me go." He continued on walking away.

Lelouch's hands began shaking in anger; the witch may have been right. "Suzaku! Wait!"

Said boy stopped in his tracks, and then his eyes narrowed as he heard the sound of a mask being taken off. He bit his lip and his hands shook. He couldn't turn back… no; more like he didn't want to. He then ran off, shaking his head. _Please don't let it be him! Please don't let it be him! _He kept telling himself._  
_

The former princ_e _had a pained expression on his face; he looked down and shook his head. His best friend became a foot soldier in the Britannian Military, and it was all to punish himself because he thought that his best friend and his sisters were dead. Even after learning that they were alive, he still decided to remain in the military because he thought he would be protecting them... from Zero. If only he had turned around...

**TBC…**

* * *

**Well, that was a PAINFULLY long chapter.  
**

**Okay, I'm going to point something out. Didn't you find it weird that some characters in canon didn't find out that Zero is Lelouch? A prime example being Milly. She knew that Lelouch is an exiled prince, so she should have deduced that he would start a rebellion against his father. Also, I have seen in many time-travel fanfics that Lelouch met Tohdoh before. Well, that makes a lot of sense since Kirihara instructed him to train Suzaku so he must have met Lelouch. But in canon, it was never mentioned that he met him before... As for Kaguya, it was seen from flashbacks that she did indeed meet Lelouch, yet towards the end of the series, she was acting as if she never met him...  
**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	6. Confrontations

**To BlackTyrantValvatorez: *sigh* Let me tell you something. In fanfiction, I don't mind cousins marrying each other, but I do not approve of sibling marriages even if they were half-siblings.**

**To Shimmering-Sky: Well… please check the previous chapter. I have decided to change something at the end of it…**

**To PrincessAnime08: Tee-hee :P**

**To squeegywing: Thank you. I'm glad I'm not disappointing.**

**To northernlion196: Exactly, and I've mentioned that at the end of the last chapter after editing it.**

**To obsessed: You ought to check the last chapter. I've edited it.**

**To Mr. Indigo: Glad you're hooked!**

**To Republic: I haven't thought about that, but… I'm not sure about how her leadership will differ from Ohgi's… and also thanks for suggesting ideas. I'll consider them.**

**To Mtmeye: Thanks for the review! Glad you've liked my story.**

**Yeah. As you can see, I've decided to reply to reviewers. Don't ask why, please.**

**Let's begin!**

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence, March 24th 2017 ATB}

The two sisters were overjoyed to know that Suzaku was safe. The pink-haired one had tears in her eyes as she repeated 'Thank goodness' over and over again. The sandy-haired one merely smiled.

The green-haired immortal, however just retreated back to Lelouch's room. Euphemia glared at the retreating figure of the woman. Just when was she going home? Does she even have a home? When she first came to their house, she was wearing the school uniform for girls, but the young princess didn't see C.C attend school ever since then! And she was annoyed by her freeloading in their residence and using her brother's credit card to buy loads and loads of pizza. And it doesn't look like she has gained a single gram from eating those mouthfuls of pizza! How does she do that?! Why did Lelouch give her his credit card's password anyway?! And most importantly, what does she want from her brother?! Lelouch had already denied having any future plans with her…

This night, she would confront the mysterious woman before her brother comes back. As Euphie approached her brother's room, she heard the green-haired woman talking with someone. The pink-haired girl put her right ear on the door to listen. She knew that eavesdropping is a bad habit, but C.C was very shady.

_"Zero? What about him?"_

Euphie raised an eyebrow; someone was asking her about Zero? The immortal paused for a brief moment before continuing.

_"Maybe or maybe not. Why should you care?"_

Euphie suspected that whoever C.C was talking to knew that the latter knows about Zero's identity, which could be very troublesome if he turned out to be who she thinks he is. Who was the person that C.C was talking to anyway?

_"Most likely."_

_Most likely what? _The princess frowned.

_"If you want to know so badly, then I have no choice but to tell you. Zero is-"_

The door to Lelouch's room flew open, startling the immortal woman who looked at the one who opened the door with stunned eyes before returning to their 'bored mode'. Euphie was standing there while folding her arms; an angry expression was on her face, and she was tapping her right foot.

However, as she took a better look at the woman, she calmed down and let her arms sag; her expression softened and was replaced by a surprised one. The green-haired woman wasn't holding a phone in her hand, and there was no one in the room!

She didn't let it get through to her, though. "Who were you talking to?"

C.C just shrugged. "Who knows?"

Her expression changed into an angered one once again, but managed to remain calm. "You were talking to someone and it was clear that you know who Zero is, and you were going to reveal his identity to whoever you were talking to."

"So you were eavesdropping?" The witch asked before throwing herself on Lelouch's bed. "Didn't your parents tell you it's impolite to eavesdrop on people?"

Annoying, irritating and infuriating. These are the adjectives that best described the green-haired immortal… well, the words glutton and voracious would fit her very much as well, but the first three adjectives that came to Euphemia's mind were the ones that fitted C.C the most. Snarky, cynical and sarcastic could be added to the list too.

Before the princess could retort, the immortal woman spoke again. "Yes, I do know who Zero is," She stated. "However, I am not going to tell you about the identity of the person I was talking to."

The princess frowned. "Why not?"

"Why should you care?" The other woman asked back. "Aren't you angry at Zero for killing your half-brother Clovis?"

The pink-haired girl was taken aback by what the immortal woman said; this woman knew about the identities of her and her siblings! She immediately jumped to the conclusion that her brother was the one who told her that. But why did he trust this woman SO EASILY?! They even refrained from telling their friends from the Student Council about their identities except for Milly, who knows about that because her family were supporters of the late Empress Marianne, Lelouch and Nunnally's mother. C.C shrugged, noticing Euphie's shocked expression and understanding why she had that expression in the first place. "I can assure you that it wasn't Lelouch who told me about your identities as Britannian royals."

"T-Then, how d-do you know about that?"

"I just happen to know."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration; she really couldn't stand this woman for few minutes! How was Lelouch able to stand her for three days?! "Are you going to tell the person you were talking to about who we are then?!"

"Maybe or maybe not."

Now Euphemia's temper has reached a boiling point, but she stopped herself from exploding. "C.C, I will kindly ask you to leave our residence because I find your staying with us to be dangerous."

"I will stay by your brother's side until our plans for the future come into fruition."

Now the younger girl exploded. "JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOUR PLANS ANYWAY?!" She yelled, not caring that she asked that in a very inappropriate way for a princess. "What do you want from Lelouch?!"

Just then, they heard Nunnally greet Lelouch. The princess looked back at the green-haired immortal, who smirked. "Well, I suppose you have a lot to discuss with your brother, am I right?"

Her eyes narrowed as her suspicion was confirmed. _Then he's really...! _She didn't conclude that thought as she looked down with sad eyes. _Lelouch... no..._

* * *

**Confrontations  
**

"I'm glad you're alright, Lelouch." Nunnally said with eyes full of relief.

Said boy merely raised his eyebrow. "Why is that?"

She pouted. "I was worried that you were caught up in the chaos that man Zero created!"

His eyes widened for a brief second before chuckling. "Oh, that." He shrugged. "Don't worry Nunnally; I'm in one piece as you can see."

"I'm glad," She smiled. "I'm also glad that Suzaku is safe."

At the mention of his best friend's name, the raven-haired prince barely contained his disappointment. He was able to maintain a straight face. "Yeah, me too."

His crippled sister noticed that, however. "You're not happy that Suzaku is safe?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "Of course I am," Suddenly, an excuse came up in his mind. "It's just that... I can't believe that Suzaku went to his court-martial."

"Why is that?"

He frowned at her. "He may still... be executed."

"W-What?!" Shock washed on her face. "B-but why?"

"You know why, Nunnally."

A scowl appeared on her face; she knew how much her brother hates their country and its system, but... "That man Zero... he did admit to murdering Clovis, didn't he?"

He blinked his eyes, not liking where this was going. "Y-Yes," He stammered. "That's what he said."

"Then, why would they execute Suzaku?" She asked. "They have no reason to after Zero's confession."

Lelouch just pinched the bridge of his nose; Suzaku also said a similar thing. He rubbed his temples and sighed; he had a rather rough night, and he was too tired to argue with his sister. "You know what? Let's discuss this later on, okay?" He then looked around. "Where's Euphie?"

The sandy-haired girl looked at her brother's room nervously. "Well... I heard her shouting at Miss C.C just before you entered the house."

"What?" Just what did this witch do to anger his sister like that? Euphemia would never snap like that unless someone or something really agitated her. But he couldn't blame her either. He had enough of C.C's dose of sarcastic and snarky remarks for three days. Not to mention that his half-sister didn't seem to like C.C ever since she showed up in their residence. Something must have happened between them.

As he entered his room, he saw C.C sitting on his bed, wearing nothing but her white shirt... again. He ignored her immodestly dressed body as he approached her, a deep scowl appearing on his handsome mug. "What happened between you and Euphie?"

As usual, the passive expression on her face didn't change. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" She inquired back. "I'm sure the two of you have a LOT to discuss."

His eyes widened in shock and horror as he immediately drew a deduction to what she said. The young man's eyes suddenly became angry before he charged at the immortal woman and pushed her down on the bed. "YOU DAMN WITCH!" He shouted in wrath. "Why did you tell Euphemia?! Don't you understand that will endanger her AND Nunnally?! And what am I going to tell Euphemia now that she knows that I am the one who murdered Clovis?!"

Despite his grip on her, she shrugged. "Just tell her the truth," She replied casually. "Did you really think that you would be protecting them by keeping your alter-ego a secret from them?" He could clearly hear the mockery in her tone when she asked that. "In my opinion, I think it is quite the opposite. With the 'miracle' that you have pulled off tonight, you became Britannia's number one enemy." She stated. "What if your enemies knew about your identity? Don't you think that will not only endanger your sisters but you as well?"

He backed away from her, and C.C saw the stunned look on his face and felt the shiver in his body. Suddenly, they heard someone. "She's right, Lelouch," The young prince's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. He slowly turned his head to the door to see his pink-haired sister standing there. She closed the door behind her to make sure that Nunnally won't hear anything. "And besides, C.C has only confirmed my suspicions."

The boy's eyes narrowed in shock at her. "You mean... you knew all along?"

"Well... you gave me a hint yesterday, remember?"

He tried to remember what he told her yesterday and his eyes widened again for a brief second before closing them.

_"I'm sure someone will be able to save Suzaku."_

He said something similar to his full-blooded sister yesterday, and she thought he was talking about Tohdoh. But Euphie proved to be more perceptive and intuitive than Nunnally, something he had not expected at all even though they became much closer to each other while hiding for seven years. He smiled at her, trying to change the atmosphere. "Well done, Euphie," He praised her as he clapped. "I congratulate you on being the first one to discover my secret identity."

His sister's eyes enlarged as she stared dumbly at her half-brother. It seems that C.C's influence was getting to her brother. In anger, she walked to Lelouch and slapped him on his face. His face turned to the side and a red mark appeared on his left cheek. The Britannian prince's smile disappeared and was replaced by an unmoved expression. Tears gathered in the eyes of the young princess, but he could not face her.

"Why...?" She asked hoarsely. "Why did you kill Clovis...? What does killing Clovis has to do with revenge against our father...?"

The violet-eyed boy remained silent and his head was still turned to the side. The pink-haired girl was fed up with his silence and so she grabbed his face and made him look at her. Four violet eyes were locked into each other. "Look at me, Lelouch!" She shouted at him, her tears now flowing down her cheeks. "Why did you kill Clovis?!"

"I panicked, okay?!" He shrieked in admission, causing her to back away a little. He sighed before continuing. "My hand slipped... and I pulled the trigger," His eyes narrowed for a moment, remembering what he has done to his older brother whom he cherished in the past. He then shook his head as he remembered what his brother has done, and his irises hardened. "But Clovis... deserved what happened to him." He closed his eyes. "He became an abomination during these seven years."

Her tears stopped as she blinked her eyes in confusion. "W-what?"

And he told her about what Clovis has done in Shinjuku. He also told her about the reason why their blond brother has initiated the massacre: C.C. He explained what he knew about the immortal woman, and also about the power she grants to other people when they make a contract with her, Geass. All of this information being told to her at the same time was hard for Euphie to grasp. She sat down on the bed and put her hand on her forehead, trying to comprehend everything that was told to her. Naturally, she could not believe that her gentle older brother became a mass-murderer who started a genocide on an entire ghetto just so no one would find out about what he had in that stolen canister. What shocked her even more was the fact that he was doing human experimentation.

"Euphie," He called his sister in a soft tone. "If you don't believe me, watch these videotapes." He handed her the tapes that he took from the G-1 Base.

"What do these contain?" She took the tapes and looked at them.

"They contain me using my Geass to ask about my mother's assassins and also about C.C," He began. "Apparently, Clovis wasn't the one who murdered her and it seems that he doesn't know who killed her either. He, however, assumed that Schneizel and Cornelia may know about the ones who assassinated her."

At the mention of Cornelia, the pink-haired girl looked down at the tapes, a downcast look in her eyes. "Hey, Lelouch..." She called. "I know that Cornelia was the captain of Lady Marianne's guard, but I don't think that she was the one who murdered her."

The raven-haired prince turned his head sharply to her, not quite believing what his sister has just said. "What made you think that, Euphie?!" He asked. "I never accused Cornelia of murdering my mother!"

"Well... I thought that you may have assumed that she killed Lady Marianne..."

He understood the crestfallen look on her face all too well. Even after seven years of separation, Euphie still loved Cornelia. It's not like Lelouch hated the purple-haired princess or anything, but still... "She may not have a hand in my mother's murder..." He began, walking to the window and taking a quick look before turning to his half-sister. "But she also never truly cared about us. Even you, her full-blooded sister." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Like Clovis and the others, she only cares about her claim to the throne."

The princess jolted up, not liking what her half-brother said. "Hold on a second, Lelouch!" She shouted. "Cornelia cares about us more than her claim to the throne!"

He folded his arms. "Oh, really?" He scoffed. "Then why didn't she do anything about our exile to Japan?"

"She did say that she would do something!" She retorted before sighing, calming down. "Maybe... something happened that prevented her from helping us..."

He didn't say anything and turned back to look through the window. "That's a possibility." He simply agreed.

They both remained silent for a while, and C.C, who hasn't said anything during their exchange merely moved her golden eyes between the two siblings, wondering if their argument was over or if they're going to start a new one.

"Lelouch... how is... Suzaku?" Euphie inquired with glimmering eyes, breaking the silence.

He lowered his gaze, but didn't turn to face the former Third Princess. He sighed loudly. "Bruises were covering his face, Euphie," He replied. "I hope that explained his condition to you."

Another cheerless expression appeared on the young girl's face. "What... did you tell him...?"

"I asked him to join me in my rebellion," He answered. "But he refused. You know why, Euphie? Because he believes that by staying in the military, he will protect us... from Zero."

Her eyes widened in disbelief; it was very ironic actually. "But, didn't you reveal yourself to him?"

The raven-haired youth turned to her this time and then walked towards her. "He was about to leave," The prince started. "And when I called him, I removed my mask. He must have heard the sound of the mask being taken off, but didn't turn to look at me." He sighed. "Maybe he felt that it was me, but didn't want to believe it, and I also have a feeling that there are more reasons to him staying with the military than that."

She just shook her head, but gasped when her half-brother put his hands on her shoulders. She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. "Euphie... I have promised you and Nunnally to create a world where the three of us would live happily in without fear of being forced back into the fold of the Royal Family," He reminded her. "But to do that, I must obliterate Father's empire. It is the only way to make yours and Nunnally's wish come true." He smiled gently at her.

She then proceeded to hug him. "Just make sure that you'll be careful, alright?"

"I will."

* * *

{Mysterious place}

This place was very strange to say the least. A platform was floating in the air with a set of levitating stairs connected to it. A large man was seen standing at the top of the platform. That man was none other than Charles zi Britannia, the Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire. He was frowning as he looked up at an object that looked similar to Jupiter. _That fool Clovis doesn't even know who murdered him! _Only one question lingered in his head: Who was this masked man who called himself Zero?

The sound of footsteps stopped Charles's train of thought, and he turned back to face the newcomer. It was a young girl with pink hair tied in two pigtails and red eyes. She looked like she was the same age as Nunnally. There was something strange about her, though. Her irises were surrounded by red circles, the very same circles that surrounded the eyes of those affected by Lelouch's Geass...

"Charles, I have some news for you." She said with a wicked smile.

"Do tell."

"Zero is indeed someone who has Geass," She started. "C.C was about to tell me who Zero is, but something interrupted her."

He smiled a devilish smile. "At least my suspicions were proved to be true."

"Darling, just how did you come to the conclusion that Zero was someone who possesses a Geass?"

"It all became clear with what that fool Kewell Soresi said," He replied. "He was confused about Amber at the beginning, but when the car that Zero was standing on moved closer to him, his behavior changed all of a sudden." He smiled. "Zero's Geass must be one that twists people's will into doing his own bidding, but it requires a certain range for it to work."

The girl clasped her hands together to her face, staring in admiration at the bulky man that was standing before her. "My darling!" She called him lovingly. "You are such a shrewd man! No wonder our dear son Lelouch was so smart! He obviously got this from you!"

He smirked. "Indeed." He remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "In case Zero becomes a real threat, you must go to Area 11."

"But he will only become a threat if Cornelia proved ineffective against him," She stated. "You know that your daughter isn't the Goddess of Victory for nothing; even I approve of her skills as a commander and a soldier."

He ignored that. "At any rate, you must do as I have told you," He ordered. "And in case you face him in battle, make sure that you capture him alive and bring him to me."

She raised an eyebrow. "So I take it that you have taken an interest in Zero?"

"Of course," He affirmed without hesitation. "I want to see the face of the man who dared to defy me so boldly myself."

"As you wish, darling," She gave him one last smile before waving goodbye to him. "See you later!"

"See you later... Marianne."

* * *

{Ashford Academy, March 25th 2017 ATB}

An old man with graying blond hair and blue eyes was reading a newspaper. His name was Ruben K. Ashford, and he was the principal of Ashford Academy, as well as Milly's grandfather. The first page had a huge picture of Zero, the masked man who confessed to the murder of the Third Prince of Britannia, Clovis la Britannia. Most of the newspaper was full of articles regarding the masked terrorist. Naturally, he became Britannia's most wanted criminal within less than twenty-four hours. As the old man sipped from his coffee, he heard a knock on the door. He told the person to come in, and when the door opened, Milly was seen standing there. He smiled at her and gestured for her to come.

"Milly, darling," He addressed her. "Can I help you with something?"

She closed the door behind her and then walked to the old man. "Grandfather, I want to talk to you about something."

"What is it about?"

"It's about... this man." She pointed at the picture of Zero.

Without even turning the newspaper to the front page, the blond old man raised an eyebrow at his granddaughter. "Zero? What about him?"

She pressed the index fingers of her hands together, not sure how she can address this matter to her grandfather. That was definitely something unusual, because Ruben has known his granddaughter to be a bold and blunt person, but it seems that the matter with the now number one enemy of Britannia has made his granddaughter nervous. "Um, he's... he's..." She stuttered before sighing loudly. She knew that her stammering won't get her anywhere, and she was wasting her grandfather's time by that. "Do you think Zero's the one who I think it is?"

He remained silent for a while, but then a small smile graced his face. "I do think that Zero's the one who you think he is."

She lowered her eyes; their blue irises glimmering in sadness. "Grandfather... aren't you worried about him?"

"Of course I am, Milly," He affirmed, and then gestured for her to come closer. She approached her grandfather and sat on a chair in front of his desk. "I have expected that he would start his rebellion one day, but I never expected it to be this early."

"What if he does something reckless?" She inquired with her eyes full of worry.

"Unfortunately, my darling, I don't think what happened last night was the last and least reckless thing he would pull off," He answered while shaking his head and then sipped his coffee. "I don't think anything I will say would change his mind either."

Her face remained sorrowful. "The day of the incident, Rivalz told me that Lelouch ditched him," She stated. "I guess he 'ditched' Rivalz in order to assassinate his brother."

"But the late Viceroy was attending a party, wasn't he?" The older Ashford asked, putting his hand under his chin in thought. "How did he manage to get past the guards?"

"For all we know, Prince Clovis may not have been in a party," Milly pointed out. "But wherever he truly was must have had really tight security, so I find myself wondering too."

Ruben sighed and shook his head. "There's no point in wondering about that now."

A frown appeared on her face. "Are you... going to help him if he ever asked for your help?"

"Do you think he would reveal his alter-ego to me, Milly?"

Her scowl deepened. "I'm... not sure."

He put his hands together; his elbows resting on his desk. "But to answer your question, if he ever came to me... I would gladly help him." He smiled.

She sighed, still not satisfied and then looked up with her blue irises twinkling. _Lelouch... please come out of this alive..._

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

During the afternoon, a certain pink-haired girl was in deep thought. She knew that her brother would do something more reckless than what he did last night, and she knew that she couldn't stop him. Lelouch was too stubborn to be turned away from anything he sets his mind on, and he has probably realized that the moment he shot their brother Clovis dead, there was no turning back. But there was another very obstinate person whom she was worried about too: Suzaku. According to what her brother told her, he chose to stay in the military in order to protect her and her siblings... from Zero, who is Lelouch. Since her brother was a rebel, and Suzaku was a soldier in Britannia, these two may clash against each other as enemies. She shook her head in sadness; the situation was just like one of the drama plays that she participated in. She doesn't want these two to fight each other in fear that one may kill the other or the two may end up taking each others' lives. She doesn't want to lose anyone dear to her, and since she found out that the boy she loved was alive, she also wanted to live happily with him in a gentle world, along with Lelouch and Nunnally of course.

But another thing that was worrying her was C.C. Euphie did feel sorry for her after she learned that her blond half-brother was doing experimentation on her, but she was talking with someone through unorthodox methods, probably due to her immortality and she didn't even tell her brother about that! The witch almost exposed her brother's identity to whoever she was talking to, so why shouldn't she be wary of the immortal woman? Not to mention that Geass power she granted to him that requires her brother to grant her wish that he doesn't know anything about yet. And if he granted her wish to her, he would become an immortal in turn. Euphemia certainly did not want her brother to have such a fate. Immortality may have been something that only existed in fiction for her, but even though it was fiction, she could tell that it was bad.

The young princess walked to her half-brother's room. Her brother was out and won't be returning until later, so she decided to eavesdrop on C.C again to see if she communicated with that mysterious person once more. As soon as she put her right ear on the door, she heard the green-haired woman say something.

_"Again with Zero?"_

Her eyes widened; she did indeed call that person. But what is she going to say? If she tried to reveal Zero's identity again, she would have no choice but to stop her once more. She could not afford to have her brother's secret identity to be exposed so soon. What if that person C.C was talking to had connections to the Britannian Military? This would mean HUGE problems for her and her siblings.

_"Sorry. I have changed my mind."_

Euphemia blinked; what did she mean by that...?

_"I have my reasons for that. Now, go."_

Wait. Did that person ask her about Zero's identity but C.C refused? But why?

_"Euphemia, you can come in now."_

She froze in shock at the mention of her name. She winced before opening the door and saw the immortal woman sitting on her brother's bed, looking at her with her usual bored expression. The pink-haired princess frowned deeply at the woman and folded her arms. C.C then smiled at her. "So, how are you doing?"

The princess's face became redder, but she managed to contain her anger. "C.C... you have contacted that person again, didn't you?"

The green-haired witch just shrugged. "So what if I did?"

"You would have told that person about Zero's identity!"

The immortal woman shook her head. "No."

Euphie blinked. "No?"

"I have changed my mind, Euphemia."

"But why?"

She shrugged again. "I have my own reasons."

The young princess sighed very loudly, putting her hand on her forehead then rubbing her temples. That was the same thing she lastly told to the person she was talking to, and that person must have been annoyed as well. Yet, she was thankful for C.C for refusing to reveal Zero's identity. But wait... "Did you decline to tell that person about Zero's identity because you knew that I was eavesdropping on you?" She folded her arms again. "If that turns out to be true, are you going to tell that person about Lelouch being Zero if I wasn't in the house?"

The immortal witch shook her head. "No," She simply replied. "You can trust me on that, right?" She smiled innocently.

Yeah, right. Like she would trust her after what she knew about her and her 'secret caller'. The princess pointed her index and middle finger at her eyes and then at C.C. "I'm watching you." She stated before leaving the room.

The immortal witch merely smirked in amusement and then lied on the bed. "You have an interesting sister, Lelouch," She stated. "Perhaps she would do with a Geass, but after learning everything about that power, I doubt she would want a power like that."

* * *

{Government Bureau}

Jeremiah wasn't thinking about restoring the Purist Faction's honor. In fact, he was thinking of how to meet his prince and settle things with him. He snapped out of his thoughts when a loud sigh escaped from the mouth of his most loyal subordinate. "Lord Jeremiah, I'm going out to breathe some fresh air," She stated to him as she headed to the door. "When you figure something out, please call me, okay?"

The turquoise-haired man said nothing as the tan-skinned woman left the room. He sighed and shook his head. Jeremiah then heard a knock on the door. "Come in," He affirmed, and when the door opened, his heart almost stopped at the person who has just entered his office. It was none other than... Zero! Just how did he manage to get to the bureau without anyone stopping him?! He immediately reached out for his handgun and aimed it at the masked terrorist with a shaking hand; his teeth were gritting and beads of sweat were running down his face. "Z-Z-Z-Zero! H-how d-did you g-get in h-here?!"

In response, the caped man raised his hand, causing the leader of the Purists to lower his gun. "Calm yourself, Jeremiah Gottwald," He told him calmly. "I only came here to talk." He reached for his mask and removed it, revealing the face of a young man the older man has recognized all too well. The prince bowed his head slightly. "I apologize for what happened regarding the net, but I suppose you do understand why I have done that, don't you?"

The turquoise-haired man blinked his eyes then chuckled, returning his handgun back to his pocket. "I have suspected that it was you, Your Highness," He stated. "And yes, I do understand why you have done that, my prince," He nodded. "You didn't want your comrades to know that I am your ally, didn't you?"

The young prince took a seat and then smiled. "Yeah, and I was worried that they might kill you," He proclaimed. "I actually have the intention to tell them that I have a spy in the military, but I won't tell them it is you."

Jeremiah smirked. "You want me to act as a double agent?"

"Exactly," The boy affirmed with a smirk. "It's a cliche method to get things done, but it could work if you don't get caught."

The leader of the Purists chuckled. "Indeed it is," He agreed before his expression turned serious. "If you don't mind me asking, my lord, but how did you manage to get into the G-1 Base back in Shinjuku and the Government Bureau now?"

"It's a secret." He smiled.

The older man blinked his eyes, but didn't say anything more than that. He then looked down as he remembered something. "Your Highness... I did say that I would aid you in bringing down your father's empire," He started. "But... you never mentioned that you would kill your own brother in order to achieve your agenda."

Lelouch remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "It was an accident," He admitted. "I didn't mean to kill him, but my hand slipped."

The orange-eyed man leaned closer to his prince. "That's only an excuse to cover up your true intentions, right?"

The young man shook his head. "Believe me, Lord Jeremiah, I had no intention of killing Clovis," He replied. "But after seeing what he has done, I have decided that he deserved that."

The turquoise-haired man kept silent for a while before speaking again. "Do you plan on killing your other siblings had they decided to do what Clovis did?"

"I may have to."

He nodded in understanding, but then his eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh yes! I almost forgot!" He exclaimed. "Princess Cornelia is going to be the new Viceroy of Area 11."

His eyes widened in surprise, but then a devilish smile appeared on his face. "Really? That's good news."

Jeremiah frowned. "Aren't you worried about that?"

"Not really, Jeremiah," He replied. "This is a good opportunity to know more about my mother's murderer."

The older man blinked his eyes in surprise. "Princess Cornelia knows something about Lady Marianne's killer?!"

"Maybe," He replied. "That's what Clovis told me at least."

"I see," He nodded. "Another thing; there are going to be two Sub-Viceroys for Area 11."

Lelouch's eyes went wide in surprise. "Two?" He repeated. "Who are they?"

**TBC...**

* * *

**Okay. I hope you like the new addition to this chapter. Sorry if it sucks, but I'm sleepy and it seems that has problems with alerts. I have received notifications about 12 hours after I have posted the chapter last time! **

**So, it seems that many people agree with the first option. In that case, I will choose it. Either way, Kallen will still have to deal with Mao, but it will be different in both ways.**

**Some reviewers gave me tips for writing my future CG fanfiction, and they were very helpful, so thank you. :)**

**I'm going to give you guys more about the story. Kallen wakes up all of a sudden while sleeping on her mother's bed in that hospital. She was shocked at first and very confused. Because she doesn't know if there was anyone else who has returned back to the past with her, she goes to talk to the person who would most likely believe her: C.C. Much to her surprise, C.C also has memories of the future! Together, they vow to save Lelouch and pretty much everyone else who has died.**

**Well, what do you think? You can still give me ideas, you know.**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	7. Gemini

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed, added to their favorites and followed. This means a lot to me, really. Hope you continue your support.**

**Phew! Now, into the story!**

* * *

{Mysterious place, March 25th 2017}

"Marianne, I told you that I want to see the face of Zero myself," Charles zi Britannia stated with a frown on his face. "There was no need to contact C.C to inquire about his identity again."

The girl shrugged indifferently before raising an eyebrow. "So, you actually want Zero to defeat Cornelia in their first confrontation?"

The Emperor smirked evilly. "Indeed," He admitted. "Only strong opponents will make this war game so much entertaining."

She chuckled merrily. "You have said it, my darling husband!" But then winked at him and wiggled her finger. "But I've told you before; Cornelia isn't feared as the Goddess of Victory for nothing."

"Humph," He huffed in indifference. "I want to see what this masked rogue can do against Cornelia and her forces. I want him to humiliate her and make her forces question that so-called title." He proclaimed with his right hand clenched in a tight fist before turning back to 'Marianne' with a smirk on his face. "Only then you will join the game, Marianne."

"Aren't you such a wicked man?" The pink-haired girl inquired teasingly. "You want your enemy to humiliate one of the most powerful soldiers in your country, who is also your own daughter." She clasped her hands together, staring lovingly at the towering man. "I'm glad I have married a man like you, my darling Charles."

He smiled at her. "I may want Zero to disgrace Cornelia," He started. "But I do not want Zero to demean you as well, Marianne."

She raised a curious eyebrow at him. "So, you do care about me."

His smile never left his face. "Have you really expected me to be that heartless?"

* * *

**Gemini**

{Government Bureau}

Villetta Nu was very confused. About twenty minutes ago, she told her leader Jeremiah that she would go out to breathe some fresh air, and then all of a sudden, she found herself standing in the hallway with no memories whatsoever of why she was just standing there in the first place. Her fellow members of the Purist Faction have experienced the same thing, and coincidentally or not, Kewell has repeatedly claimed that he doesn't remember letting Kururugi and Zero escape. The soldiers and high generals in Shinjuku who were working with Prince Clovis have also stated that they have suffered from short-term memory loss…

As crazy as it sounds, it made her feel as if Zero has the ability to hypnotize people without the use of a pendulum like magicians. But if that was true, how was she going to prove it?

Another thing she was confused about. Her leader didn't object when Kewell decided to use Kururugi as a scapegoat, but he lied in public when he claimed that he thought the Eleven was the true assassin of the Third Prince. What made him betray Kewell like this? Was this the cause of Zero's ability to control people? Or… did Jeremiah become an ally of this masked clown willingly…?

The tan-skinned woman knocked the door of her leader's office and when she heard his affirmation, she entered. He smiled at her and gestured for her to sit. "Villetta, are you feeling better now?"

She sighed. "Lord Jeremiah… there is something I must talk to you about."

"I'm all ears."

"Why did you lie in public regarding Kururugi's false accusation?" She inquired; her eyes full of disbelief. "What made you turn on Kewell like this?"

The turquoise-haired man had actually expected his subordinate to ask this question, and as such, he was prepared for it. "I have realized that what Kewell has done doesn't coincide with our faction's ideals," He replied and then stood up and turned to the window; a scowl appearing on his face with his hands behind his back. "Besides, why are you defending Kewell after the disgrace he has brought to the Purist Faction last night?"

The loyal subordinate looked down, showing an expression of sadness. "Well… I've started to believe what Kewell claimed about not remembering anything regarding last night's incident."

He turned back to face her, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "What?" He questioned. "How come?"

The tan-skinned woman took a deep breath. "Alright. What I'm about to say may sound crazy," She started. "I think Zero… might be able to control people."

A poker face expression appeared on Jeremiah's face. However, this expression was nothing more than a mask to his true feelings. As preposterous as it sounds, it actually… made sense, and it also explains Kewell's sudden change of behavior regarding 'Amber'. _So, that's your secret, my prince. _A frown appeared on his face. Just how does he do that anyway?!

The tan-skinned woman moved her golden eyes nervously from left to right. _Great. Now he thinks I'm crazy. _

"Villetta… that's… unbelievable."

The female Britannian sighed as she put her hand on her forehead. "I know, Lord Jeremiah," She said. "But the soldiers and high generals in Shinjuku have all suffered from short-term memory loss, and even I and our comrades in the Purist Faction!" She then gasped and put her hand on her mouth. "What if he hypnotized us and then snuck in to steal military information?!" The woman then put her hands on both sides of her head. "Oooh! What are we going to do?!"

The orange-eyed man put his hands on his subordinate's shoulders and shook her gently. "Calm down, Villetta," He told her. "You're being paranoid now."

Her jaw dropped as shock washed over her face; how can her leader be so calm about this?! "Lord Jeremiah… aren't you worried about the threat that is Zero?"

Marianne's former guard sighed and folded his arms, getting tired of Villetta's discussion. "Of course I am worried, Villetta!" He exclaimed. "It's just that… what you're saying about Zero is purely based on your hunch and speculations," He stated bluntly. "How do you expect Princess Cornelia or anyone else for that matter to believe that Zero has the ability to control people?" His orange irises became stern after that question. "Her Highness will not believe us, especially after what happened last night, and she will certainly not believe the others' excuses as well," The man closed his eyes; his face becoming a mask of sorrow. "She will call them traitors, and there's nothing we can do about it."

The silver-haired woman looked down, feeling completely helpless right now. A hand on her shoulder caused her to lift her head and lock her eyes with her leader's. "Villetta, I know you're concerned about the others' fates," He began. "But right now, we must work on restoring our faction's reputation and status."

"Yeah…" She nodded.

"Now, you must excuse me, Villetta." He left the room.

All of a sudden, the expression on the woman's face changed from sad to angry. A deep frown appeared on her lips. For the first time in her career, she began doubting her own leader. "I really don't know what has gotten into you, Lord Jeremiah," She thought loudly. "But I do intend to stop you in case you do something that will turn you into a traitor."

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

After dinner, Euphemia asked Lelouch if she could talk to him alone. Nunnally, who has seen the exchange, felt as if her siblings were hiding something from her. Last night, she heard them arguing even though she couldn't get what they were saying exactly. What's going on between those two?

In the eldest Lamperouge's room, the young man's eyes almost came out from their sockets after hearing his sister's request. "You want me to do what now?!"

"You heard me, Lelouch," She told him; her eyes were blazing in determination. "I want you to take me to Shinjuku."

"What do you want to do there?!" The former prince shouted. "See the destruction our brother has caused? Or pay respect for the souls of the innocent Japanese people who were brutally murdered in his senseless massacre?"

The pink-haired princess slightly winced at that, but regained her composure very quickly. "Both."

The exiled prince put his hand on his forehead and shook his head; his sister's stubbornness has reached a whole new level. "We are Britannians, okay, Euphie?" He began. "The Japanese people despise us. They may try to assault us both verbally and physically."

"If we don't do anything insulting or hurtful to them, they won't do anything to us."

The raven-haired boy sighed loudly, getting more frustrated by the second. "Euphie, your naivety is unbelievable."

A deep scowl appeared on the face of the former princess of Britannia as she folded her arms. Her persistence and obstinacy amused C.C, and also made her smirk. "Just take her there, Lelouch," She told him. "Seeing what Clovis has done may make her less naïve."

The violet-eyed boy frowned and while Euphie's own frown remained, it was now directed towards the witch. Both scowls appeared on their features for different reasons; for Lelouch, it was because the immortal woman approved of taking his sister to Shinjuku. For Euphemia, it was because she felt insulted by what C.C said.

"Who asked for your opinion, witch?" The boy asked her angrily.

Once again, she shrugged. "No one," She answered casually. "But it's the voting of the majority and since Euphemia and I voted for you to take her to Shinjuku, I suggest that you do it."

"Who said we are voting?!" He shouted in exasperation. He then sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The females of this house are driving him insane!

Euphie turned back to her brother; her pout was still on her lips. _Since he remained as stubborn as ever, I will use extreme measures. _She clasped her hands together under her chin, and her eyes glimmered in a cute way.

The teenaged boy paled; he knew that he can't resist his sisters when they make their eyes like this. _The puppy dog eyes! _He turned his head away. _Damn it, Lelouch! For once in your life, try to withstand those irresistible eyes!_

The pink-haired princess moved her face closer to her half-brother's, whose head was still turned away. Just one glance at the girl's violet eyes made him throw his hands in the air in defeat. "Fine! We'll go to Shinjuku tomorrow!"

The former princess of Britannia made a victory sign with her fingers. "Yes!"

C.C once again smirked in amusement. "My, Britannia's number one enemy is defeated by his younger sister merely for making a puppy-dog-eyes face," She shook her head mockingly. "Are you going to surrender to Cornelia if she made her eyes glimmer like this?"

"SHUT UP, WITCH!"

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement, March 26th 2017 ATB}

A certain orange-haired schoolgirl was seen walking casually in a park. With that Zero guy making his appearance here in Area 11, she must be more cautious, but since it was daytime, she doubted that he would do anything.

But what truly made Shirley worried was her father. Ever since the announcement of Prince Clovis' death, he has been restless. Whenever her mother and her tried to ask him what made him so anxious, he would either ignore them or stutter and then change the subject. And now, after the true assassin of Prince Clovis revealed himself, he has been even more nervous than before.

Obviously, whatever her father was hiding from her and her mother, it was connected to the late prince. But what is the big secret? That's the main question that she's been asking herself for almost a week.

"I am such an imbecile…"

The schoolgirl heard someone say that before sighing. She saw a man sitting on a bench with his hands covering his eyes. He looked troubled so she approached him. "Hello," She greeted, causing the person to look at her. A faint blush appeared on the face of the orangette; for some reason, this young man reminded her of Lulu, especially his eyes. They were violet, like Lulu's but something was different about them. While Lelouch's eyes were stoic and cold, this boy's eyes were innocent-looking. She snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head, smiling warmly at the boy. "C-can I help you with something? You seem kinda… lost."

The young man stared at her before sighing and then looking down; his medium-length, light blue hair falling down to cover his eyes. "Thank you, fair lady," He said. "But I would rather not bother you with my dilemma."

Once again, Shirley's face turned red, only this time it was a darker shade of red. The way this young man talked in was very formal. Was he a noble? "I d-don't mind h-helping you," She stuttered. "I'm n-not in a rush or anything."

He looked at her and shook his head. "You are a tenacious one, fine maiden," The young Britannian remarked, causing her to blush once more, and this time it was even redder than before! The boy tilted his head in confusion. "Are you unwell, good lady? Your face seems to turn red from time to another."

"H-huh?!" She exclaimed before shaking her head violently, making the blush disappear. "It's j-j-just that… no one called me a fair lady or fine maiden before." The teenaged girl poked her index fingers together.

"Oh, so you feel flattered?" The young man asked, smiling at her.

"Y-yes," Shirley's eyes then widened. "Oh! What is your, er, dilemma?"

"I have just arrived in Area 11, and I seem to have lost my way in the Tokyo Settlement." He tilted his head backwards, sighing in the process.

The orangette smiled at him. "So, you want someone to show you around?"

"Yes, please."

The girl grinned at him and nodded. "By the way, my name's Shirley Fenette."

The young man put his hand on his breast and made a slight bow. "I am Cassius," The blue-haired boy took Shirley's hand and kissed the back of it, causing her to blush again. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Shirley."

"Oh… my…" She suddenly fell down, losing consciousness.

Cassius knelt down, shaking the girl. "Lady Shirley!"

* * *

{Elsewhere in the Tokyo Settlement}

As he expected, Suzaku was no longer a suspect in Prince Clovis' murder. However, that doesn't mean that he can rest yet. The masked madman Zero knows about his friends, and he has no idea where they are in the Settlement.

… But there was also the one possibility that he did not want to believe at all, a possibility that he wanted to push away and deny.

_He can't be Zero, can he? _He thought grimly to himself. _I know that he hates Britannia and the Emperor, but that doesn't mean he would go as far as killing his own brother and take innocent civilians hostage. _The Japanese boy frowned, balling his fist. _What should I do…?_

"Excuse me."

The Honorary Britannian's train of thought was interrupted when someone called him. He turned his head to his right to see a young man with medium-length light blue hair who was also wearing sunglasses. "Um, yes?"

"Can you help me in finding my brother?" The young man asked. "You see, we've just arrived in Area 11, but he immediately took off in order to explore the Settlement all by himself," He sighed and shook his head. "That fool… I have no doubt in my mind that he's lost somewhere."

"Don't worry," Suzaku assured him. "I can help you find him."

The blue-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "You know, for an Eleven, you sure don't seem to hate us Britannians."

"Why should I?" The brown-haired boy did not like where this was going.

"Isn't that obvious, Suzaku Kururugi?"

The Japanese young man didn't seem surprised that this Britannian boy has recognized him, not after what happened two nights before. Suzaku sighed. "If you knew who I was, why did you ask for my help in finding your brother?"

"Because you're the first person I saw when I existed the building."

Cue the face-fault from the Honorary Britannian. He did not expect such an answer from this boy. He then straightened himself and stood up. "Wha-what?"

"You heard me," He then extended his hand. "I'm Paul, by the way."

Suzaku shook the boy's hand. "Nice to meet you, Paul," He smiled. "So, what does your brother look like?"

"He looks a lot like me, with the skin tone and the hair."

"You're twins?"

"Yes." Paul replied before a scowl appeared on his lips. _But I really hate it when people mistake me for him. It's not like we have the same eye color anyway._

* * *

{In another side of the Settlement}

"Ice cream?" Cassius inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Shirley pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you've never eaten ice cream before?"

He smiled nervously, feeling embarrassed. "Forgive me, Lady Shirley," He bent his head forward. "I have never eaten such a dish before."

The schoolgirl burst out laughing, startling the young man. "D-d-dish!" She clutched her stomach; a lone tear escaped her left eye from laughing. "Ice cream is a dessert, Cassius."

"Oh, I see," He nodded but then frowned. "But is it wise to eat dessert before eating a proper meal?"

"But of course," She replied as they arrived near a cart that sells ice cream. "Now, what flavor do you want?"

The blue-haired boy put a hand under his chin in thought and then smiled. "I would like a cheese ice cream with a strawberry on top, please."

The man that was selling ice cream and the orangette gaped at the young man, who was confused as to why they were giving him this look. Shirley turned back to the ice cream seller with a sweet smile. "Um, can you excuse us for a second?" He slowly nodded at her before she dragged Cassius away.

"Is something the matter, Lady Shirley?"

The girl sighed. "First, drop the 'Lady' title," She stated. "Second, ice cream is nothing like cheese cake. Third, there are only four flavors for ice cream: Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and mango."

"Oh, I understand," The boy put his hand under his chin again. "I would like a vanilla ice cream, please."

The girl smiled at him. "That's more like it."

Later on, the two were seen eating ice cream cones while sitting on a bench. The orange-haired girl showed the young man how to eat ice-cream before he eats it in one go and suffers from brain freeze.

"Cassius? Can I ask you something personal?"

"Of course you can."

"Are you a noble?"

He smiled at her. "You can say that."

"What types of desserts do nobles eat besides cheese cake?"

"Well..." The boy put his finger to his mouth in thought. "Macaroons, fruit salad, chocolate fondue and many more."

Shirley pouted. "They're not different from the ones we eat," She stated. "But I never had any chocolate fondue. Seeing pictures of strawberries smeared with chocolate on the internet makes my mouth water!" She drooled.

He chuckled lightly at her. "I can invite you to eat some chocolate fondue with me once I know about the luxurious restaurants of the Settlement and when I have time to."

She smiled warmly at him, a faint blush appearing. "That's sweet of you, Cassius," She stated. "But I don't think I will have enough time since I'm busy with schoolwork."

"I understand," Cassius leaned back. "Education is very important, after all."

The orangette looked down at the ice cream cone in her hands; a faint blush appeared on her face. "You seem so nice and modest compared to other nobles," She then put her hand on her mouth, feeling as if she has insulted nobility. She then raised her hands and shook them in defense. "It's n-not like I'm s-saying that a-all nobles are a-arrogant or anything! I actually h-have a friend of mine who is a n-noble, but she doesn't a-act like a n-noble at all!"

The schoolgirl was surprised when she heard him chuckle. "Frankly, I find myself agreeing with you, Miss Shirley."

"R-really?"

The violet-eyed boy nodded. "They are snobbish and care about power more than anything…" He looked down with a downcast look in his eyes. "Just like my father…"

Shirley looked at him with worried eyes and put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Is he that bad?"

"I do not know…" He admitted. "But I do know that out of all his sons… I am one of his least favorite ones…"

The green-eyed girl removed her hand from his shoulder and then looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked."

He shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile. "It is fine, Miss Shirley."

Silence came between the two. Even though Cassius assured her that it was fine, she felt as if that subject was sensitive to him. It seems that he has issues with his father, issues that he did not want to talk about. She felt guilty for insisting to know more about his relationship with his father.

Cassius broke up the silence when he stood up. "I better go, Miss Shirley," He told her. "Thank you for accompanying me in this tour of the Settlement. It was most enjoyable."

Shirley smiled warmly at him. "The pleasure's all mine, Cassius."

He started to walk away before stopping and looking back at her. "Can you keep this meeting a secret between us?"

Of course she will. If she told her friends about it, Madame President will keep teasing her about it for the rest of her life. Not to mention that she likes Lulu, not some boy she has met for one day that she wasn't sure if she will meet him again or not. "Yes."

"I am grateful for that. And also…" He walked to her and gave her a piece of paper before running off. "Farewell, Miss Shirley! I hope we can meet again!"

She waved him goodbye before nervously looking down at the paper. Without a doubt, this was his phone number. However, when she saw the name written on the paper, her eyes became the same size as baseballs.

_Castor rui Britannia…_

Shirley fainted.

* * *

{Elsewhere in the Settlement}

"Stop rubbing your flea-full body on me!" Paul whined. A dark gray cat with yellow sclera and black eyes was rubbing its body on the Britannian boy's pants. It also had a black spot that covered its right eye.

Suzaku chuckled as he knelt down. "I think it likes you," He extended his hand to pet the feline, but… "Ouch!" It bit his fingers.

"Let me guess: You love cats but the feeling isn't mutual?"

"You could say that… ugh!" The Japanese teenager winced as he removed his hand from the cat's mouth and rubbed his fingers gingerly. He then noticed something wrong with the cat. "Hey, this cat's right paw is injured!"

"Whatever," Paul turned his face away. "I'm not treating this cat's wound."

Despite the fact that the cat bit him, the young Honorary Britannian kept on begging Paul to treat the feline's injury. Eventually, the reluctant young Britannian has finally given up and tended to the gray animal's wound.

"Man, you're so stubborn." The blue-haired boy sighed, sitting down near Suzaku with the cat between them.

The brown-haired boy chuckled. "A good friend of mine used to tell me that a lot," He then looked down at the feline, which was licking its other paw. "What should we call this little guy?"

"Ha?!" The Britannian young man had a look of disbelief on his face. "So now you've decided to keep the cat?"

The other boy shook his head. "I can't take care of a cat while having military duties," He stated. "But it won't hurt if we give him a name."

Paul sighed. "So troublesome," He scratched the back of his head then looked at the cat before a devilish smile appeared on his face. "How about Fleabag?"

Suzaku shook his hand. "No."

"Hmmm, then…" The other boy put his finger under his chin in thought before smiling again. "How about Fleaball?"

The Honorary Britannian frowned. "Can you think of a name that doesn't involve the word flea?"

"Why?" The sunglasses-wearing Britannian asked rhetorically. "These names suit him a lot."

The green-eyed young man just sighed and shook his head. After few seconds, the Britannian boy grinned gleefully, and the Honorary Britannian didn't feel comfortable about that. "How about Scruffy? Or Scabby? Or even Fuzzy?"

"Out of the question."

The other boy threw his arms in the air and groaned. "I give up!" He then folded his arms and pouted. The cat then ran away, and Paul smiled. "Bye, cat! I hope we never see you again!" The young Britannian put his hands under his face with his elbows resting on his knees, sighing. "I can't believe how this turned out to be. I went out to look for my dolt of a brother and I ended up tending to a stray cat's wounds." He groaned.

"Still, you were able to explore the Settlement." The other boy stated with a smile.

Paul looked at him and then closed his eyes and grinned as well. "I guess you're right," He then looked at the people who were passing by. "And the people seem to be so carefree, which is somewhat worrying considering the new threat that is Zero."

At the mention of Britannia's number one enemy, the Honorary Britannian's face hardened. That didn't go unnoticed by the other teenager, though. "I've been meaning to ask you something, Suzaku Kururugi," Said boy turned to the blue-haired young man. "I'm sure that Zero asked you to join him. So why did you decline his offer and went back to your court martial?"

Suzaku remained silent, but after a short while, answered. "When I was ten, the world seemed like a very sad place to me," He began. "It is plagued by many, many problems that seem to be increasing everyday," He then looked up. "It's as if the world is condemned to a curse, a curse of a never-ending cycle of hatred, like mice running in a wheel." He clenched his fist. "Someone has to break that cycle, and that someone is definitely not Zero."

"And why do you think that?"

"Zero is someone who uses questionable means in order to achieve his ends," The Japanese teenager proclaimed. "For me, any ends gained through despicable means are worthless."

"So, you believe that you're the one who should break the cycle of hatred?"

The brown-haired boy remained silent for a few seconds. "If I could, I would."

"You'll become like the light savior in contrast to Zero, the dark savior." Paul chuckled in amusement.

Suzaku scoffed. "And do you believe that Zero is even a savior?"

"That's what he made himself appear to be in his debut, at least for the Elevens," The Britannian smirked. "You have remained in the Britannian military, so may I ask why did you choose to do so?"

"I'm going to... change the Britannian system from within."

The blue-haired young man burst out laughing, which naturally caused the green-eyed Honorary Britannian to scowl. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head. "I hate to break it to you, Suzaku Kururugi," He said between laughs. "But someone like you can't change the system from within."

"Why not?" His frown deepened.

"The only way to change the system from within is to become the Britannian Emperor," Paul stated. "Only His Majesty has the absolute authority to change the system from the inside, and even if you -miraculously- do manage to marry a Princess, I highly doubt you'd be able to become the Emperor... for obvious reasons."

An angry scowl appeared on the mug of the Honorary Britannian; it seems as if the Britannian boy was trying to put him down and make him give up on his ideals. He balled his fist. _But I'm not giving up on my ideals so easily. _But he felt as something was off about the other boy. "You seem to know a lot," He said. "Are you a noble?"

Paul smiled. "You can say that," He then stood up and dusted himself. "A word of advice, Suzaku Kururugi. Don't tell the military or any member of the Royal Family that you want to change the system from the inside because it means that you want to become the Emperor," He stated. "And that means... betraying him... and you know what happens to traitors."

Suzaku said nothing; his face was stoic and stern, an expression that he seems to have inherited from his sensei, Kyoshiro Tohdoh. The young Britannian saw the look on the Japanese youth's face and sighed. "We should continue looking for my brother."

"Yeah," The Japanese boy agreed. "We should."

As he walked alongside the green-eyed teenager, the blue-haired youth couldn't help but muse about Suzaku Kururugi. _Suzaku Kururugi, you better not walk down this path you have chosen for yourself,_ He thought with a frown. _You won't succeed in changing anything. You will only succeed in making your people suffer even more than that..._

* * *

{Shinjuku Ghetto}

While walking through the ruined streets of the Shinjuku Ghetto with her older brother, Euphemia had a cheerless expression on her face. Even though she was seeing the destruction that her late brother has caused, she still couldn't believe her eyes. The young princess simply could not believe how the gentle Clovis could do something as terrible as this, even if it was for the sake of not being disinherited.

Lelouch on the other hand, was looking around him nervously. He knew that if Japanese people would attack them, he won't be able to defend himself and his sister. Euphie, noticing her brother's anxiety, sighed. "Lelouch, please stop worrying," She assured him, wearing a fake smile. "It's going to be alright."

The former prince merely sighed. "You're way too optimistic."

"And you're way too pessimistic." She countered.

"More like realistic."

The pink-haired girl just sighed, and her face returned to its crestfallen look. A sudden shout from someone brought her attention to them.

"Get out of here, you damn Britannain brats!" A redheaded male Japanese shouted at two Ashford Academy students.

Upon noticing the students, Lelouch gritted his teeth in anger, and his eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell are those two doing here?!" He ran to them.

"Lelouch, wait!" His sister ran after him.

"You should know your place, Eleven," The slimmer one of the two spat. "We are Britannians, and as such, we are your superiors."

"Like hell you are!" Tamaki shouted, balling his fist, ready to punch the Britannian brats. "And we are not Elevens; we're Japanese!"

"Wrong," The chubbier one said. "You guys have lost the war and as such, your names."

"That's quite enough!"

All of them turned to the source of the voice; the two students were shocked to see the Vice-President of their academy, with one of his younger sisters behind him. "V-Vice-President?" The chubbier of the two stuttered.

The slimmer one folded his arms. "And what are you doing here?"

"That's my line, Palmer," The Vice-President said; one hand on his hip. "You should know better than to argue with the locals of the ghettos."

"And what is it to you?" The chubby one shouted.

"I cannot tolerate people who have a superiority-complex."

The slim one laughed loudly, still folding his arms. "Did you hear that, Nolan?" He then shook his head. "Our school's Vice-President, the Ice Prince of Ashford Academy is an Eleven Sympathizer!" He continued to laugh madly with Nolan joining in.

"So what if my brother is an Eleven Sympathizer?" Euphie asked angrily. "Is it wrong if he's one?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that you know what happens to those who sympathize with Numbers," Palmer stated. "They are thrown in the ghettos." He then shrugged. "But don't worry; we won't tell anyone that you're both Eleven Sympathizers. After all, there won't be anyone to take care of poor little Nunna."

"If you think that there's no one who can take care of Nunnally, then you are very mistaken, Palmer." Lelouch stated, stepping forward. He felt his blood boiling every second.

"Oh yes. You do have that Eleven maid taking care of her, don't you?" Palmer put his hand under his chin. "What was her name again? Sayako? Sayaka? Sayo-" A sharp slap on his face made him stop immediately, but surprisingly, it didn't come from the Ice Prince.

"Don't you dare insult the Japanese people again, you oaf!" A furious princess shouted.

He grunted as he rubbed his cheek. "What the hell, Euphemia?!"

"I suggest you go back to the Settlement before you stir more trouble," The former prince of Britannia said. "After all, you don't want to be attacked by an angry mob, do you?"

A panicked look washed over the faces of the two racist Britannian students. After they walked past the siblings, the slim Britannian turned back to face them. "Just you wait, Lelouch and Euphemia Lamperouge," He began threatening them. "I'll tell everyone in the school about you two being Eleven Sympathizers!"

The raven-haired boy just scratched the back of his head nonchalantly. "Like anyone would believe a couple of losers like you." He muttered under his breath before turning to the group of Japanese. Beside Tamaki, there was Ohgi and Yoshida as well as a purple-haired bespectacled man that he has yet to meet. They were all observing the scene with bewilderment. "I apologize for my classmates' behavior." He bowed to them, stunning them even more.

The red-haired loudmouth, however, was the first one to snap out of his shock, and the look on his face twisted into a wrathful one. "Like hell I'm gonna fall for that!" He shrieked, tightening his fist. "You two have probably rehearsed on that skit with your friends and came here just to tell us that some Britannians aren't racists like others!" He gritted his teeth. "And worst of all, you have the guts to mock our traditions!"

Ohgi put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Oi, Tamaki… c-calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Ohgi!" He yelled as he pushed his friend's hand away. "I am sick and tired of Britannians insulting us and mocking us whenever they have the chance to!" The redheaded rebel panted before calming himself. "Why don't you just go back to where you belong to, _occupiers_?" He walked away with his hands inside his pockets.

"Wait! I can exp-" Euphie stopped by her brother when he put his hand on her shoulder. "Lelouch…"

"The way he acted was understandable," The young Britannian said. "These people have been suffering from other Britannians' racism and discrimination. You shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't believe anything you will say."

Another sorrowful expression appeared on the teenaged girl's face before nodding. "Yes."

As the two of them turned to leave, they were called by the Afro-haired man. "I'm really sorry about my friend," He bowed apologetically. "He's just upset."

"You don't have to apologize about anything," Lelouch told the Japanese man. "I have already stated that I understand why your friend would act like that."

"Yeah…"

"Well then, farewell."

Euphie bowed and put on a very warm and genuine smile. "Goodbye."

Kaname Ohgi waved to them before a small smile appeared on his face. He then looked at the sky. "Well, it looks like you weren't wrong after all, Naoto."

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement}

Paul sat down on a bench as he groaned loudly; for the past couple of hours, Suzaku and him had no luck in finding his brother. Just where did the idiot go to? "I swear if I return to the bureau and find him there, I'm gonna smack him senseless!"

"Bureau?" The Honorary Britannian blinked his eyes in confusion.

A shocked expression appeared on the young Britannian's face. "I m-mean, house." He chuckled nervously.

Just then, a black van stopped near the two. Lloyd was the one driving it, and Cecile was on his right. "My, my, aren't you such a naughty boy, Suzaku?" The eccentric man asked, wiggling his finger. "Shirking work so you can go on a date?"

The Japanese boy gasped and his face turned bright red. Lloyd's assistant's face was also red. The young Britannian's face was red in anger and embarrassment. He stepped forward and pointed a finger at the gray-haired man. "Now hold a second, buddy! I don't swing that way!"

The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You mean you're a boy?"

The woman face-palmed. "Isn't that obvious?"

The sunglasses-wearing young man balled his fist in anger as a tick mark appeared on the back of it. "Why you…!"

"Enough of that please!" The purple-haired woman cut them off. "Suzaku, there's some trouble occurring in Shinjuku."

"Huh?!" His green eyes widened in shock before they became stern. "Is it Zero?"

"Now, don't jump to conclusions, young man," Lloyd said, wiggling his finger again. "According to the Intel we have received, the members of the Purist Faction have been spreading rumors about Zero being spotted in the Shinjuku Ghetto in order to lead Lord Kewell into an ambush to eliminate him."

The shock was evident on the young Honorary Britannian's face, but he wasn't the only one who showed that particular emotion. Paul also had the same expression on his face.

"Suzaku, I'm not sure if you want to-" Cecile started, but was immediately cut off by the brown-haired youth.

"I will help Lord Kewell."

"What?!" The woman shouted, and even his strange boss had a surprised look on his face.

"I can't let anyone die, even if they happen to be the ones who have falsely accused me of murder!" He entered the van, and without even saying goodbye and apologizing for not finding Paul's brother, he told Lloyd to move already.

However, the blue-haired Britannian didn't care about that. He looked to where the vehicle sped off with a serious look on his face before running after the van.

* * *

{Soccer Stadium, Shinjuku Ghetto}

"James, you bastard!" The disgraced member of the Purist Faction spat through gritted teeth. "The rumors about Zero being in the ghetto were false, weren't they?!"

_"Well, what did you expect, Amber's lover?"_

Veins throbbed in the face of Kewell Soresi. "I have told you again and again that I DON'T KNOW ANYONE BY THE NAME OF AMBER!"

_"Enough of your lies, Kewell!" _James shouted from inside his Sutherland. He then raised his Assault Rifle. _"We heard them one time too many last night. We must eliminate you before Her Highness Princess Cornelia arrives in Area 11."_

The other three Sutherlands have also aimed their rifles at the lone Sutherland. Kewell gritted his teeth more than before. "Cowards! Four on one? How low can you go?!"

_"Not as low as you have gone, Kewell." _He stated. _"Now, prepare to say goodbye to your Amber. All Hail Britannia!"_

Before they could fire at their target, four Slash Harkens knocked away the Assault Rifles from three of the Sutherlands; the only exception being James', who naturally turned to the direction where the Slash Harkens came from. "What the-"

Two Sutherlands arrived and stood protectively in front of the brown-haired Purist's Knightmare. _"Kewell, are you alright?"_

The disgraced man's blue eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "J-Jeremiah?"

_"We came to help you, Kewell."_

"And V-Villetta too?" He could not believe it. His leader and one of his comrades came to his aid despite everything that has happened.

_"Lord Jeremiah! Villetta! Why are you defending that traitor?!" _James shouted through the radio.

"Stand down, James!" The leader of the Purist Faction ordered. "This is a direct order from your leader! You must obey it!"

_"Not until you give me a convincing reason as to why you're defending a traitor like Kewell!"_

"And what you're doing now is not treachery?" Jeremiah retorted.

_"There's no use in convincing you, huh? Fine! Men, let's eliminate these traitors together!"_

_"B-but James-"_

_"Do not argue with me!"_

_"Do you really want to murder your own leader?" _The turquoise-haired man inquired.

The members of the Purist Faction didn't know what to do. They couldn't disobey their leader yet they want to kill Kewell for degrading them.

_"Tsk. Fine then! I'll do it myself!" _James aimed his Assault Rifle at the three. Surprisingly, he found the three reluctant Purists standing by his side, aiming their own rifles at Jeremiah and the other two.

_"You're right, James. Traitors must be eliminated, even if they happen to be our superiors."_

_"Heh. Glad to see you three coming back to your senses. Any last words?"_

The orange-eyed man gritted his teeth in fury. "You foolish traitors!"

_"Bad choice of words. So long!"_

The four opposing Sutherlands fired, and before any of the three assaulted Sutherlands could react, a white Knightmare appeared all of a sudden and protected them with a green energy shield.

Shock washed over the face of the leader; he simply could not believe who their savior was. "K-Kururugi…?"

"The Eleven?" Villetta wondered, her golden eyes were narrowing in shock. "But why?!"

No one was shocked more than Kewell himself. "Why did you… help me…?"

Suzaku didn't say anything as he raised the sword of his Knightmare. Cecile appeared on the screen. _"Suzaku, be careful," _She told him. _"The Maser Vibration Sword is untested yet."_

"I understand."

He charged towards the four Sutherlands, and due to the sheer speed of the Lancelot, the rogue Purists couldn't counterattack in time. He managed to disarm their rifles using the MVS, and also damaged them severely, forcing them to eject. The last one left was James, who was gritting his teeth in frustration. Deus ex machina works wonders.

"Give it up," The Honorary Britannian commanded. "I don't want to kill you."

James was furious at the 'audacity' of the boy. _"How dare you tell me what to do, you filthy Eleven?!" _The right arm of his Sutherland then took a cylindrical-shaped grenade. _"In that case, I'll take you out all together!" _He threw the grenade in the air.

Just then, Paul entered the stadium and raised his arm in a very authoritative way. "I Pollux rui Britannia hereby order thee to cease fire at once!"

Suzaku turned his head at the young Britannian, shocked at what he has heard. "P-Paul?! You mean you're a… prince?!"

James' eyes widened in horror. "Shit!" He swore under his breath. _"Eleven! Protect Prince Pollux! That Chaos Mine will shoot deadly shrapnel!"_ He screamed through the radio.

A horrified Japanese youth stood protectively in front of the now-revealed prince. "Blaze Luminous, activate!" He activated the green energy shield of the Lancelot, deflecting all of the shrapnel when it burst.

_"Your… Highness," _The brown-haired boy called. _"Are you alright?"_

"Yes, Suzaku," He smiled genuinely. "Thank you for saving me."

As the others ejected from their Knightmares, and enraged Jeremiah Gottwald walked angrily towards James and punched him on his face, knocking him to the ground. Blood started coming out of his nostrils. The leader then grabbed him from his collar and raised him up. "What the hell were you thinking, James?!" He inquired furiously. "You almost killed a prince of Britannia!"

"I-I-I-" His stammering led to his leader throwing him away.

The brown-haired Honorary Britannian knelt in front of the blue-haired prince. "Forgive me for not recognizing you, Your Highness."

Pollux just shrugged. "It's okay," He scratched the back of his head casually. "I don't like making public appearances anyway."

* * *

{Government Bureau}

"Why did you tell me to accompany you, Your Highness?" Suzaku asked as he walked beside Pollux.

The young prince turned his head to the Japanese boy; a scowl was on his face. "First of all, stop calling me 'Your Highness'," He ordered. "Second of all, I want you to meet my brother."

The brown-haired boy turned to the prince with a raised eyebrow. "You mean your brother came back to the bureau?" He asked. "How can you tell?"

"I just know." Pollux then turned his head to the side with a small frown appearing on his face. _Seriously, why didn't he use that before?_

The Japanese boy said nothing more. As they kept walking, they were met by someone who looks exactly like Pollux. That was his twin brother, Castor rui Britannia, AKA Cassius. The sunglasses-wearing twin charged at his brother and punched him on his face, knocking him on the floor. "Why did you do that, Big Brother?" He rubbed his cheek.

"That's for ditching me and going out to explore the Settlement by yourself while I went through all that trouble to find you!" He shouted angrily, a vein was throbbing in his hand. "Where have you been anyway?"

"I was… with a girl."

Pollux's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "You went on a date while I went through the crap of preventing the Purists from killing Kewell Soresi?!"

Castor's eyes almost bulged from their sockets when he heard that. "What?"

"Allow me to explain, Your Highness." Suzaku stepped forward.

He told everything that happened to the other prince. While young Castor understood why the rest of the Purists would do something like this, he couldn't accept betrayal at all. "I see," He nodded in understanding before remembering something. "Pardon me for not introducing myself. I am Castor rui Britannia, Thirteenth Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire."

"And I am-"

"Suzaku Kururugi," The Thirteenth Prince concluded, smiling. "You are a celebrity."

"I am?!" His eyes widened, not quite believing it.

"Of course," Castor's smile widened. "You're the son of the last Prime Minister of Japan, Genbu Kururugi."

"Oh," The young Honorary Britannian merely said. "I see."

"And I am Pollux rui Britannia, the Twelfth Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire," He declared, raising his arm up. He then looked at the two. "Did I sound hammy enough?"

"Uh, hammy?" His younger brother tilted his head in confusion.

"I think he meant dramatic."

"Oh, yes, Big Brother," The violet-eyed prince nodded. "You were very dramatic."

"Hammy or a large ham, Castor," Pollux 'corrected'. "Like Shakespeare… and Casanova."

The younger prince paled as Suzaku blinked his eyes in confusion. "Who's Casanova?"

The Thirteenth Prince raised his hands up nervously. "Never mind that, Private Kururugi." He chuckled sheepishly.

The Honorary Britannian raised an eyebrow but didn't question the princes more about that… although he had a vague idea on who Casanova might be.

Pollux then remembered something. "You said that you went on a date with a girl," A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "Care to tell me how it went?"

"Um... wait; what's a date?"

The Twelfth Prince face-palmed as Suzaku sweat-dropped. The politer twin was clueless about many things, it seems. "It's like a... romantic appointment." His brother explained.

"Oh, I see," He nodded in understanding, but as the words sank in, his eyes widened and his face turned a shade of red. "N-no! It's n-not like that! I have lost my way in the Settlement and she saw me feeling down, so she offered her help."

"Still, it looks like a date to me." Pollux shrugged.

The younger twin frowned. "P-please refrain from telling that to Sister Cornelia." Sweat started running down his face. "Or worse, Father."

The older twin wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulder while grinning. "Don't worry, Castor," He assured. "Your secret is safe with me."

The Honorary Britannian looked at the scene with a warm smile. The relationship between the two princes reminded him of his relationship with Lelouch. The raven-haired prince was like the brother he never had. They hated each other at first, but then made up and became best friends.

Castor turned to Suzaku. "Private Kururugi, in recognition of your heroic deed today, I shall enlist you in Ashford Academy."

"What?!" His brother had a look of disbelief splashed on his face. "Is that how you reward the man who stopped the mutiny of the Purists on Kewell Soresi?!"

The violet-eyed teenager looked at his brother, frowning. "But Big Brother, Private Kururugi is eligible to enter school," He stated. "And besides, I am sure that he stopped his education after the war."

The sunglasses-wearing prince scratched the back of his head, sighing. "Yeah, yeah, because you want everyone to be a straight A student like you were when you were attending school and never leave their education no matter what, because you're so perfect."

The younger prince scowled. "I never said that I was perfect," He then turned to Suzaku with a smile. "So, what is your decision, Private Kururugi?"

Ashford Academy. Of course! Lelouch was wearing the uniform of that school when he met him in Shinjuku. This will be his chance to find his friend. "I accept your offer with pleasure, Your Highness." A wide smile appeared on his face.

**TBC…**

* * *

**Whew. This chapter became longer than I expected! DX **

**I'm at war right here. Should I make the pairing Lelouch x Kallen x C.C x Shirley? I mean, I prefer Kallen over the other two, but I also acknowledge the other two as his other love interests and considering that he didn't end up with any of them in canon, I actually kinda want the three of them to be his wives. Ugh, developing Lelouch's relationship with these three women is gonna be a tough one...**

**Please, please, PLEASE, go back and check the previous chapters because drastic changes were made to them. Some of these changes will affect the next chapter and it might confuse you if you don't reread the previous chapters, ESPECIALLY chapter 3.**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	8. A Continued Past

**Thanks for everyone's continued support! I really appreciate it!**

**Warning: You must reread chapter 3 because drastic changes were made to it that will affect this chapter.**

* * *

{Fenette Residence, March 26th 2017 ATB}

It was almost 10:30 PM, and she has school tomorrow, yet she doesn't feel sleepy. Shirley was lying on her bed, wearing green pajamas and observing the piece of paper that was given to her by 'Cassius' or rather… Castor rui Britannia.

_I spent my day with a prince… _She didn't even tell her parents about it. _Should I call him? Will he reply?_

After some more moments of silent observance, the young schoolgirl took a deep breath before letting it out. Her eyes became determined as she picked up her cellphone and dialed up the prince's number. About forty-five seconds have passed and, the call was answered.

_"Hello?"_

She paused for a second before answering. "H-hello," She stuttered. "It's me… Shirley Fenette."

_"O-oh! M-Miss Shirley! Hello. How are you doing?"_

"I'm fine… Cassius," The orangette replied. "Or should I say 'Your Highness'?"

'His Highness' remained silent for a good while before speaking again. _"I am sorry for not telling you who I was, Miss Shirley," _He apologized. _"I had to protect my identity at all costs. I did not mean to lie to you."_

"I understand," The girl said. "With Zero on the loose, you must protect your identity, right?"

_"Yes, you are right."_

"So, um… are you the new Viceroy?"

A light chuckle was heard from the other end of the phone. _"No, Miss Shirley," _The young prince replied. _"I am one of the two Sub-Viceroys."_

Her eyes widened in shock. Two Sub-Viceroys? That's something new. "R-really?" She stammered. "Who's the other Sub-Viceroy?"

_"My older twin brother, Pollux rui Britannia."_

Cue another shocked expression appearing on her face. "O-oh! I see."

_"Sister Cornelia will not be able to handle all the paperwork probably, so she asked His Majesty if she can have two Sub-Viceroys, and Father decided to send us with her, or rather, before her."_

That actually amused Shirley to an extent, but seeing as how Princess Cornelia will be busy taking care of Zero, it was understandable that most if not all of the paperwork will be handed to them to take care of. However, something else has caught her attention. "Prince Castor, can I ask you something personal again if you don't mind?"

_"Of course."_

"You have told me today that your father that is Emperor Charles considers you one of his least favorite sons," She stated, feeling guilty again for bringing that up. "S-so, how come he chose you as a Sub-Viceroy?" She then put her hand on her mouth. "I-I'm s-sorry i-if I sounded r-rude or-"

_"It is fine, Miss Shirley," _The young Britannian prince assured her and then sighed. _"Apparently, His Majesty thinks that both my brother and I are useless," _He stated. _"He thinks that I'm timid and that my brother is way too carefree for a prince, so he sent us both to Area 11 in order to prove our worth to him in being true heirs to the throne."_

"I… see." She said slowly. After hearing that from Prince Castor, the young student began to see a new side of the Britannian Emperor. Now that she remembers, most of his speeches were about Social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest, might is right, the strong devours the weak… all of these phrases represent Social Darwinism. The orange-haired girl's face formed into a downcast expression. _But… I'm not a strong person at all… so, does that mean I don't deserve to live...? Is it wrong that I am weak...? _Tears gathered in her eyes, but she couldn't show the prince that she felt sad.

_"M-Miss Shirley, are you still there?"_

"Y-yeah," She shook her head. "Sorry, but I feel tired and I must go to bed anyway since I have school tomorrow."

_"Did I upset you?"_

That caused the girl to gasp. "N-no! Not at all, Your Highness!"

_"What a relief," _She heard him sigh. _"Well then, good night, Miss Shirley."_

"Good night."

* * *

**A Continued Past  
**

{Ashford Academy, March 27th 2017 ATB}

In the Student Council, the members were all doing their work silently. A certain Vice-President was writing on a paper with a grimace on his face. _I should be preparing myself for Cornelia, but instead, I'm sitting here trying to balance the budget of the school's clubs!_

"CHEER UP!"

That shout caused him and everyone else in the room to flinch. They all turned to the one who shrieked, which was the female president of the Student Council. A grimace appeared on Rivalz's face. "Is that one of your magic spells, Prez?"

"But of course," Milly responded. "I have used it to help Shirley get back to her cheerful self again."

Said girl turned to face the blonde and her friends with a puzzled look on her face. "Huh?"

"Now that you mention it, you do seem a little bit down," Euphemia deduced; concern was evident on her face. "Is something the matter, Shirley?"

"Not really, Euphie," The orange-haired girl answered with a smile before yawning. "I didn't sleep enough last night."

A foxy grin made its way to the blonde bombshell's face. "I bet you were thinking of ways to make our dear Lulu notice you, weren't you?" She then put the back of her hand on her forehead and leaned on the poor olive-eyed girl dramatically. "But, alas, no matter how much money you would spend on expensive clothes and cosmetics, your precious Lulu won't notice you because he's as dense as a rock."

"P-Prez!" A vivid red blush appeared on the orangette's face.

Euphemia, Rivalz, Kallen and Nina laughed at that last comment from the Prez, while Lelouch groaned in annoyance. "Prez, please."

Milly then leaned on the raven-haired teen. "And Lulu here won't notice poor Shirley because he has other important things on his mind, like gambling."

When he heard that word, the blue-haired boy jumped from his seat. "I almost forgot!" He shrieked. "Lelouch, I have set up a match with a noble this afternoon."

"Guys! You are not gambling again!" Shirley huffed in irritation.

"Really? What's his name, Rivalz?" The former prince of Britannia inquired, completely ignoring his friend's complaining, much to her shock.

The female president just shook her head. "See? I was right, wasn't I?"

The shorter boy wiggled his finger. "It's a secret!" He said. "You'll know his name when you meet him."

A scowl appeared on the taller boy's handsome mug, and he sighed afterwards. "Fine."

Two particular female members of the council had frowns on their faces. These grimaces were directed towards the Vice-President, but for different reasons.

_Aren't you supposed to think of what to do next in your plans, Lelouch? _His younger half-sister thought.

_It's things like these that prevent me from taking Lelouch seriously. _The red-haired ace mused.

* * *

Kallen was standing in a corridor, watching Lelouch and Rivalz depart from school to gamble. A deep scowl appeared on her face, and a tick mark became visible on the back of her clenched fist. She then turned back when she heard the footsteps of someone approaching her; it turned out to be none other than Euphemia, holding a paper in her hand.

"They left already?"

"Yeah…" The redhead looked back at the window and frowned once more. "Why is your brother always gambling and not doing something productive?"

The pink-haired girl smiled nervously. "Well, that's Lelouch for you."

The half-Britannian sighed. "It's hard to believe that you and Nunnally are his sisters," She stated bluntly. "I mean, you both are very sweet and modest, while he's egotistical."

Euphie chuckled lightly. "But Lelouch's a good friend, don't you think so?"

"I guess so…" Euphie's hand extended to the older girl, offering her the paper she was holding. "What's this?"

"This is the poster of the latest play I'm performing in," The former princess then poked her index fingers together. "I know that you're usually at the homeland attending to your family's business, but I really hope that you can come."

"I'll see if I can, Euphemia," She nodded with a genuine smile on her face and then looked back at the poster. Euphie was wearing a red wig, a light blue and white dress and was holding a black, small dog in her hand. The half-Britannian smirked and held her free hand to her mouth. "The red wig doesn't fit you at all!" She cackled.

Euphemia huffed and put her hands on her hips in annoyance; her cheeks were puffed. "Not funny, Kallen."

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement}

The blue-haired teen was driving a motorcycle with his raven-haired friend sitting in the side seat (Don't know what's it's called, okay?). The taller Britannian teen still couldn't understand why his friend doesn't want to tell him the name of the nobleman he will be facing.

"Rivalz, why are you keeping the identity of the nobleman a secret from me?"

His friend merely grinned goofily at him. "You'll see why when we arrive."

The former eleventh prince folded his arms and grimaced. _What's so special about this nobleman anyway?_

* * *

{Unnamed tower}

"This is the room, Lelouch." Rivalz pointed at a metallic door.

"Am I supposed to hold my breath and then let it out to relieve myself of pressure?" The other teenager asked sarcastically.

The blue-haired young man chuckled amusingly, completely oblivious to his best friend's snarky remark. "You could!" He opened the door of the room.

Once inside, they saw a middle-aged man with red hair and blue eyes sitting on a comfy chair. He was wearing an extravagant white suit. The table in front of him had a chessboard on top of it. "Welcome," The man greeted, smiling warmly at the students before raising an eyebrow. "I never expected my opponent to be a student." He interlocked his fingers together. "Which one of you will have a chess match with me?"

The grey-eyed student put his hands on Lelouch's shoulders; a goofy grin was on his face. "This one, sir."

"And what is your name, young man?"

"Lelouch," The Britannian prince replied rather boringly. "Lelouch Lamperouge."

The nobleman's eyes widened for a moment, and his blue irises narrowed for some reason, but he quickly regained his composure. "A fine name," He remarked. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Duke Tobias Stadtfeld."

This time, the taller young man's violet eyes widened, and he immediately turned back to face his shorter friend, whose goofy grin did not disappear from his face. "You set up a chess match for me against Kallen's father?!" Despite his angry tone, he actually managed to make it sound low enough for only Rivalz to hear.

He chuckled. "But he's a very rich man."

"He's still Kallen's father!" The raven-haired teen hissed. "What if she finds out about our chess match?!"

That's when the blue-haired teen winked. "But you don't need to tell him that you're Kallen's friend."

"He can still tell her that he had a chess match against a male student, you know," He stated angrily. "I'm sure she'll be able to make the connection!"

The other male teen casually put his hands behind his back, smiling. "Well, in that case, I wish you good luck in dealing with Kallen."

"Why do I have to be the one dealing with Kallen when you're the one who set me up?!" He seethed through gritted teeth.

"Serves you right for ditching me that time." Rivalz turned his head away in a very tsundere-like manner.

The Britannian prince rubbed his temples in annoyance. His friend's attempt at revenge has both a good and bad thing about it. The good thing: He will get a huge amount of money that will help him in building his army. The bad thing: He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with his redheaded friend if her father told her that he had a chess match with a student in her school, a student that she knows no less.

"Is something the matter?" Duke Stadtfeld asked in confusion.

"Not at all," The taller teenager replied, forcing a smile on his face. "Shall we begin our match, Duke Stadtfeld?"

"Of course." He gestured for Lelouch to sit down.

While playing, the former prince couldn't help but feel impressed with the duke's skills in chess. Out of all the opponents he faced before, none of them were able to keep up with him. Maybe Naoto has inherited this trait from his father, but Kallen… not much other than his appearance, not saying that she's stupid or something.

"I have a daughter who is also studying in Ashford," Tobias stated, breaking the silence. "Have you heard the name Kallen Stadtfeld before?"

"I think I did." He lied.

"Well, I hope you could meet her," He said with a smile. "She has red hair and blue eyes, like me."

"I see."

After some more turns, the younger challenger emerged victorious. He leaned back on his chair, interlocked his fingers and crossed his legs; a smug smirk was seen on his face. "It seems to me that this is checkmate, Duke Stadtfeld."

The older man smiled. "My goodness," He breathed out. "To think that I would be defeated by a young man the same age as my daughter." He shook his head and then chuckled in amusement. "You are indeed brilliant, young man."

"Thank you."

The red-haired man stood up and faced Rivalz. "Can you please leave us alone?" He asked. "I wish to speak to Mr. Lamperouge privately… that is if he doesn't mind." He turned to the teenaged prince.

Both boys blinked their eyes before the raven-haired one spoke. "I don't mind, but you better not eavesdrop, Rivalz." He glared at his friend.

"Sure, sure." The shorter boy held up his hands defensively before leaving the room, wondering why would a duke want to talk to his friend, but assumed that it might be because of his mastery in chess.

The scrawny teenager looked at the man with a puzzled expression on his face. "May I ask why do you want to speak with me alone?"

"To tell you how much I am relieved to find out that you are alive…" He then knelt down on one knee and crossed his right arm in front of his chest. "Your Highness."

The young man's violet eyes went wide in alarm and shock. In all these years he spent gambling, none of the nobles he faced in chess was able to recognize him. Unlike Jeremiah, this noble may not hold Lady Marianne in high regard, just like most nobles. Because of that, he might not reveal his identity to him. After all, this man may report to the Emperor that his thought-to-be-dead son was alive this whole time, thus forcing him back to the Royal Family.

Keeping up appearances, the young prince chuckled lightly. "Me? A prince? I'm just an ordinary student at Ashford Academy."

The duke stood up with a smile on his face. "Nice try, Your Highness," He said. "But I know you very well. You are Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, the former Eleventh prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and the seventeenth in line to the throne."

A frown appeared on Lelouch's handsome mug; this man knows who he is very well, but he wasn't about to give up. "I never knew there was a prince who shares the same name as mine."

Kallen's father scowled this time; the boy was persistent in hiding his identity, but it's very understandable that he would do something like this considering his past. The middle-aged man sighed. "I can clearly see why you're denying your true identity," He folded his arms. "Maybe a tragic story will change your mind."

The raven-haired prince assumed that the story was about the death of his wife and Kallen's mother, but maybe there was more to it. And he was right...

* * *

{Stadtfeld Mansion, 2009 ATB}

A week passed since the death of his beloved wife. Tobias didn't go back to Pendragon ever since then; he had to stay in Japan for his children's sake. They need him now more than ever.

While he was in his office, the cable phone on his desk rang. He picked it up. "Hello?"

_"Hello to you, my nephew."_

Upon hearing the voice on the phone, he immediately jolted from his chair. "A-Aunt Henrietta!" He stammered, slightly pulling his necktie from his collar. "What a pleasant surprise! How may I help you?"

_"You have yet to return to Pendragon."_

A dark scowl appeared on the man's face. _I'm sure that you know why, dear Aunt. _He merely scratched the back of his head, putting up a façade. "Forgive me, dear aunt," He apologized. "I have been occupied with some... things."

_"Like the death of your wife?"_

His dark frown returned to his mug. "So you do know about that."

_"Of course I do," _Henrietta replied. _"And because of that, I need you in Pendragon as soon as possible."_

Tobias's free hand tightened into a fist; so typical of his aunt. Instead of offering her condolences for his wife's death, she told him to come to the capital of Britannia as fast as he could, completely ignoring his circumstances. "I have to respectfully decline, dear Aunt," He stated. "And I'm sure you know why."

_"Oh yes... your children..." _She paused for a moment. _"You do realize you can bring them as well, don't you?"_

"Yes, I am fully aware of that," He answered as politely as he could. "But I have already made it clear that I do not want to involve them in the family's business," His expression darkened again. "Besides, what is it that you want to talk to me about? Is it an important matter?"

_"It is indeed," _She replied. _"A very important matter, in fact. It cannot be discussed on the phone."_

He rubbed his temples in irritation. "Can you at least tell why this matter is so important that it cannot be discussed on the phone or delayed?"

_"If you do not attend to this matter soon enough, your family will fall apart."_

The redhead just couldn't hold his gasp as his eyes narrowed. He placed his free hand on his forehead. "I... understand," He uttered. "Expect me in Pendragon within few days along with my children."

_"Good."_

* * *

{Pendragon, few days later}

Having arrived in the capital, the patriarch of the Stadtfeld family along with his two children were escorted to Henrietta's mansion in a black limousine. The youngest child, Kallen couldn't help but feel happy upon seeing the Britannian capital from the car's window. It was nothing like Tokyo. The eldest child, Naoto who was sitting between his sister and father, had his head lowered with a sad expression on his face. Tobias noticed that and offered a question. "Son, are you unhappy that you had to leave Japan?"

The boy merely shook his head. "No, but I've been thinking of that important matter that your aunt wants to discuss with you."

The father looked through the window, staying silent for a moment. "Whatever it is, it can't be good." He muttered.

His son actually heard what he said, but did not say anything.

* * *

{Gladstone Mansion}

Upon arrival at the residence of their aunt, the Stadtfelds were greeted by the butler of their aunt, an old man with pale blond hair, matching mustache and beard and blue eyes. He escorted them to the inside where an old woman, a middle-aged man and a woman who looked to be in her late thirties were standing. There were also several other people there; children, teenagers and young adults.

The old woman had a long, graying red hair and brown eyes. The middle-aged man had a dark orange hair, matching beard and blue eyes and was holding a pipe in his mouth, and the woman had red hair and blue eyes. They were all wearing extravagant clothes. Even though him and his sister were wearing fine clothes, Naoto felt that they were wearing rags compared to the outfits their relatives wore.

"Aunt Henrietta, we have arrived."

The old woman smiled. "Welcome, my dear nephew," She then looked at his children, keeping her smile. "And you must be Naoto and Kallen."

"Yes," The young man replied politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Aunt Henrietta."

The old woman simply kept her smile. "My darlings, you must all be tired and hungry," She turned to her butler. "Jervis, can you prepare some treats and hot chocolate for our guests?"

"Of course, milady."

After the food was set on the table, the youngest redhead immediately dug in, stuffing her face with all kinds of treats. Naoto felt embarrassed by his sister's behavior. "Kallen, behave." He whispered to her sternly then turned to face his grandaunt; a sheepish smile appeared on his face. "Forgive me for that, aunt," He apologized. "Kallen must be really hungry."

"This is why I told Jervis to prepare these treats for you," The aunt stated. "Eat all you want, darlings."

"T-Thank you." The half-Japanese young man said before taking a biscuit.

Henrietta turned to her nephew. "Aren't you going to eat anything, Tobias?"

"No, thanks, aunt," He replied. "I was wondering, when are we going to discuss the matter we have talked about on the phone?"

At this, the matriarch of the Gladstone family dropped her smile and her expression turned into a serious one. "Yes, of course," She stood up and gestured for the middle-aged man and the woman to follow her. "Lysander, Christabel, come with us, if you may."

"Yes, Mother."

As the four adults walked into a room, the eldest Stadtfeld heir couldn't help but glare at his relatives from the corner of his eyes. He was right about his aunt; the smile on her face wasn't genuine at all, but a mask to hide her disgust at him and his sister for not being full-blooded Britannians. And this serious matter... how will it affect his family?

* * *

"So, what is this important matter you want to discuss with me?" Tobias asked, growing impatient by the second.

"Tobias, you are going to marry Duchess Florentia Conyngham." The old lady announced bluntly.

Blue eyes went wide in extreme shock at what was heard. She knew that his wife passed away more than a week ago, and yet she had already arranged a marriage for him?! He felt his blood boiling in his veins, but managed to prevent himself from exploding. "With all due respect, Aunt Henrietta, I must refuse," He replied almost sternly. "My wife passed away very recently and it would seem to be very inappropriate of me to get married at this time. My children will certainly not approve of this either," He clenched his fist. "Is there a reason behind this arranged marriage?"

"Of course there is," Lysander replied, sucking in smoke from his pipe before letting it out. "It's to strike two birds with one stone."

"How come?"

"When Empress Marianne died, the Stadtfeld family lost its status, didn't it?" Christabel asked and The red-haired man nodded slowly, pained by the memory. "Since then, Mother decided to support you financially, but she can no longer do that," She continued before he could cut her off. "The reason behind that is because you don't have a wife, and in order for her to continue her financial support, you must have a wife." The woman then shrugged. "Of course, since you have no intention of marrying anytime soon, Mother arranged a marriage between you and Duke Conyngham's unmarried daughter, Duchess Florentia Conyngham. By marrying her, you will not only continue to receive financial aid from Mother, but the Stadtfeld family will also rise to an even greater grace than before, with you becoming a Duke, Tobias. That's what Elder Brother meant by striking two birds with one stone."

"Humph," The eldest Gladstone heir huffed after letting out yet another smoke from his mouth. "It would have been much better for you had you let your son marry Lord Chamberlain's daughter."

The patriarch of the Stadtfeld family glared at his cousin, but said nothing to retort to the other man. He then folded his arms, confused about something. "But if I were to marry an heiress of a prestigious noble family, why would I still need the support of Aunt Henrietta?"

"Well, unfortunately for you, Tobias, one of the marriage conditions that were told to us by Lord Conyngham is that he will not offer his financial support to you." The middle-aged man replied casually.

_Damn old miser. _The redheaded man scowled. "Is there any other choice?"

"But of course, my darling," The Gladstone matriarch answered with a smile, but there was something off about it. "If you refuse to marry Florentia Conyngham, your children will be taken from you since you can no longer support them."

"What?!" The Stadtfeld jolted from his chair, shocked to hear such a thing. So that's what his aunt meant by his family falling apart. He gritted his teeth in anger, glaring heatedly at his relatives.

"But rest assured, cousin," Christabel stated with a smile, ignoring her cousin's glare. "I will take care of your precious little girl. I must admit, she is quite charming and I am sure that she will grow up to be a beautiful young lady. I will teach her etiquette so she can become a proper lady, and besides," She paused. "My daughter Harmonia would love to have a little sister especially since she has two older brothers."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think my son Auberon would like to have an older brother."

Tobias slammed his fist on the table, finally losing his cool. "Like hell I'm going to give you my children!"

His relatives were clearly offended by his sudden outburst, but managed to remain calm. "Your children will not be taken away from you if you agree to marry Duchess Florentia." Henrietta stated calmly.

The Stadtfeld patriarch tightened his fists so much to the point they started to turn white. With a sigh, he gave them a reluctant reply. "Alright. I will marry Duchess Florentia."

* * *

In one of the guest rooms, the heiress of the Stadtfeld family began talking excitedly about how much fun she had while playing with her cousins, Harmonia and Auberon. Her father couldn't help but smile as she chattered happily about what she and her cousins did. To think that they were going to be taken from him...

"And what about you, Naoto?" He asked his son. "Did you get along with your cousins?

A grimace appeared on the young son's mug, and the father couldn't help but feel uneasy for asking such a question. "To be perfectly honest with you, Father... Llewellyn and Reeve, the sons of Christabel... weren't the nicest of the bunch," He admitted hesitantly, but then managed a small smile. "But Lysander's daughter, Viola was very nice."

"That's good to hear." The middle-aged man looked down, sulking.

The eldest child immediately deduced that the important matter that his relatives wanted to talk about with his father was what bothered him. It seems that things really didn't turn out well for his father. "Father... forgive me for asking, but... what did Aunt Henrietta and her children discuss with you?"

Tobias didn't utter a word, but that didn't last for very long. He slowly lifted his head up to look at his son, not believing that he had the nerve to do that for what he was about to tell his children. "Naoto... Kallen... I will get married very soon..." Regret was clear in his voice.

Naturally, his children were both shocked by this news. It was apparent to the son that it was the set-up of his aunt. "But why?!" The heir raged. "Why didn't you refuse this marriage?!"

The father could not answer his offspring's question. A tug on the sleeve of his suit brought his attention to his youngest child. "Papa... who are you going to marry?"

"A woman named Florentia Conyngham."

"Is she going to be our new Mama?"

"No! No one can take Mother's place, Kallen!" Her brother's outburst caused her to wince and tears gathered in her eyes.

The patriarch stood up and put his hands on his son's shoulders to calm him down. "Naoto! Get a hold of yourself, son!"

"NO!" The enraged son pushed his father's hands away from himself. "I won't calm down until you tell why would you marry an unknown woman when barely two weeks have passed since Mother's assassination!"

The blue-eyed man's body began to tremble; he had never seen his son become so angry before, but he could understand why he would rage like that. He let out a loud sigh before sitting down on the chair. "Fine. I will tell you."

And he told them the grand reason behind his arranged marriage. Naoto was especially devastated for yelling at his father like that, even though he knew that his parent was forced to do this. "Father... I'm terribly sorry..." He put his hands on his face and slumped back in his chair. "This is the second time I yell at you because of some stupid misunderstanding on my part..." A tear escaped his right eye. "I'm such a fool..."

The middle-aged man embraced his son as his own tears flowed down his cheeks. "Don't be so hard on yourself, son..." He then put his right hand on his daughter's head, stroking it gently. "I want you both to stay strong from now on, understood?"

Kallen's blue eyes began blazing in determination, a blaze that neither her father nor her brother have seen before. "I understand... Father."

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement, present day}

"I never saw Kallen have such a determined expression on her face," Tobias stated to Lelouch. "She also stopped addressing me as 'Papa' ever since that day." He then looked down with a downcast expression on his face as his fists began shaking. "I just wish I was as strong as you were when you stood up to your father to demand justice for Lady Marianne's death..." He shook his head. "I just wish I had the strength to stand against my relatives like you did back then," He then turned away from the young prince. "I have no doubt in my mind that Naoto and Kallen suspect the Gladstone family of having a hand in the murder of my previous wife, but they can't say for sure for lack of evidences." He faced the prince again. "Prince Lelouch, I swear to you that I will not tell anyone that you are still alive," He knelt down and held his hand in front of his breast. "I swear it on the name of the Stadtfeld family that had sworn to support your mother, the late Empress Marianne before."

During all this time, the former Britannian prince remained silent as he listened to Duke Stadtfeld's story. Right now, he began to empathize more with Kallen than before, but even so, he still wanted to know more about Tobias's and by extension, Kallen's past. "Duke Stadtfeld, rise up and face me, please," The duke obliged and just then, Lelouch activated his Geass. "Answer my questions truthfully."

Kallen's father lost his will, and his face went slack. "Yes."

"Are you really going to keep the fact that I am still alive a secret from the Royal Family?"

"Yes."

"It seems to me that your relationship with your aunt's family isn't very good," The student stated. "Care to tell me why?"

"Aunt Henrietta blames me for my father's death," He began. "She thinks that my marriage to my first wife, Satsuki was what led to his health going bad since him and her were against this marriage simply because my wife was Japanese. My father left most of his fortune to my aunt and left me with a little bit of it to support my family."

Then something clicked in Lelouch's mind. "Is that the reason why you became a supporter of my mother?"

"Yes," He replied. "But I did admire Lady Marianne and wanted Kallen to look up to her as an inspiration and a role model."

Maybe his mother was indeed an inspiration to Kallen. She may not be as skilled as his mother, but he could tell that she was a very talented Knightmare pilot. He then released the man from his control. The confused man blinked his eyes. "Did you need something, Your Highness?"

"No," He shook his head. "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you, Duke Stadtfeld. I am indeed Lelouch vi Britannia, the former eleventh prince of Britannia and seventeenth in line for the throne as well as the eldest child of Empress Marianne."

The redhead blinked but then a smile of relief appeared on his face. "Thank goodness for that."

"Can you also not tell Kallen that I am a prince of Britannia?" The young man asked politely. "Truth is, Kallen is a friend of mine, but she and the rest of my friends don't know that I am a prince." He looked away. "I'm not ready to tell her or my friends about who I am yet."

The man nodded. "Understood," He then looked at his watch and sighed. "I better get going. My wife has been pestering me to get back to Area 11 ever since that man Zero made his appearance here."

Lelouch blinked before smirking. "Yeah."

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement}

"So, what did you and Kallen's Dad talk about?" Rivalz inquired as he drove his motorcycle.

"He wanted to talk with me alone, didn't he, Rivalz?"

The blue-haired boy frowned. "B-but I'm your best friend!" He exclaimed. "Don't you trust me enough to keep the secret?"

The former prince folded his arms. "Well, let's just say this is revenge for setting me up against Kallen's father."

"Wha-?!" The best friend huffed in annoyance. "So mean!"

Lelouch just smirked in triumph.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Admit it. This chapter sucked didn't it? *sigh* Well then, the next chapter will be based on episode six of the first season. There will be changes, of course.**

**I was going to include a scene in this chapter, but decided to include it in the next one. Also, not all of the OCs will have a major role in the story. I don't like that, but maybe Lysander and Christabel will have SOMEWHAT of major roles regarding Kallen and Naoto and maybe their father. I actually expect Tobias to be having a very major role since now he knows about Lelouch.**

**Can anyone find me a beta reader? I looked at many people's profiles, but most of them were about writing yaoi. UGH! *sigh* I got tired of coming back and forth to edit the chapters. I feel like a total grammar nazi, and even then, my grammar isn't perfect. T_T Biggest evidence? I had an exam last month which included a question about the past, present and future tenses. It was out of 15, and I got 10 in it. Ugh...  
**

**Well, English is my second language, but that's not an excuse, I know. English Literature is my major, but that's not enough...**

**OH! I almost forgot! I wrote another CG fanfic. It's one of those 'Lelouch goes back to the past to fix his mistakes', _BUT!_** **I promise you that I will diverge it as much as I can. I'm currently working on the second chapter of it. It's called 'Resurgam' which is Latin for 'I shall rise again'. Yeah, I actually got that when I was studying Jane Eyre last semester, but I'm not sure if it's a suitable title for the story or not...**


	9. New Student at Ashford

{Government Bureau, March 27th 2017 ATB}

During the afternoon, two blue-haired twins were waiting for the arrival of the new Viceroy of Area 11, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia. The twins were wearing identical, regal white outfits. The eldest of the two had his glasses removed, revealing a pair of sharp, yellow eyes.

When the princess finally arrived, Pollux and Castor wore smiles on their face as they saw their older sister walking towards them. Walking behind her were two men; one of them was a tall, bespectacled man with long, black hair tied into a ponytail while the other man was large in stature and had dark blond hair. He also had a scar that ran diagonally on his face.

"Welcome to Area 11, Sister." Greeted the younger one of the twins.

"You will address me as Viceroy, Sub-Viceroys," She told them sternly. "Besides, I heard that you were wandering in the Settlement without any bodyguards." An angry scowl appeared on her face.

The younger twin swallowed his lump. "It was my fault, Sister," He admitted. "I wanted to explore the Settlement and Brother Pollux followed me."

"So that's it then," The Second Princess then turned to the staff members and pulled her gun from her uniform, surprising both her brothers. The staff members showed expressions of fear. "Just how incompetent can you be?! Letting my brothers roam the Settlement while knowing that Zero is still on the loose and worst of all, leaving Clovis unprotected!" She seethed through gritted teeth. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right here and now!"

"Hold on a second, Cornelia!" Pollux stood protectively in front of the staff members. "Castor admitted that he sneaked out of the bureau and I followed him. So, if you're going to punish anyone, it's us that you should punish."

"But what about their failure of protecting Clovis?" She raged, not losing her grip on the trigger. "How can you possibly tolerate that?!"

"They weren't the ones who left Clovis unprotected!" The Twelfth Prince shouted. "The high generals that work directly under him were the ones who deserve punishment!"

The other prince joined his brother, spreading his arms protectively in front of the staff. "Please, dear Sister," He begged. "Just leave them alone. They have nothing to do with Brother Clovis's assassination."

"Y-Yes, indeed, Your Highness." One of the staff members, who had black hair stuttered, and the other members nodded their heads rapidly.

The new Viceroy of Area 11 kept glaring daggers at the 'incompetent' members, but then... "Sister." Castor called his half-sister, who turned to him. To her surprise, his violet eyes were glimmering and he was looking at her in a very cute way, similar to how Euphemia looked at Lelouch in order to persuade him to take her to Shinjuku. She kept staring at him in utter shock, and then he blushed and held his hands together. "Do not punish them, please."

With her right gloved hand, the Second Princess clutched her chest and fell on one knee. "Oh, God..."

The two men that were standing behind her came to her aid, supporting her on both sides. "Princess, are you alright?" The black-haired man asked in concern.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," She replied and then straightened herself. The warrior princess cleared her throat. "I will excuse you this time, but remember this: I will not allow failures anymore."

"Y-Yes! Thank you, Your Highness," The man from before said in total relief. "W-We promise y-you to not fail."

"Hopefully, for your own good." The princess and the two men walked away from the group.

The eldest of the twins grinned mischievously. "Success!" He slung his arms on his brother's shoulders. "The puppy-dog-eyes trick never gets old!"

"Your Highnesses... Thank you very much." The men put their hands in front of their breasts and bowed.

The two princes turned to the men with serious expressions on their faces. "The others meant it when they said that they don't remember anything, right?" Pollux asked.

"Y-Yes," A blond man replied. "I know it sounds unbelievable, but it's the truth, Your Highness."

"I... see." Castor said.

"Well then, your are dismissed."

The men bowed before going back to their work. The twins exchanged looks with each other. "Do you possibly think that...?" The younger one inquired nervously.

The older one put his hand under his chin in thought. "It's very possible," He put his hands on his hips. "Which means that he must've obtained it from _her_."

The younger one scowled and put his finger on his lips. "But how did he find C.C?" He asked. "Or is it the other way around?"

The Twelfth Prince folded his arms. "I want to know that as well, but I'm worried that he'll shoot us before I get an answer from him," His brother stated before chuckling humorlessly. "For now, I'll do some top secret interrogations."

"Top secret?"

"Of course I'll let you know of what I'll know." The older prince winked at his brother.

* * *

**New Student at Ashford**

{Stadtfeld Mansion}

Tobias Stadtfeld had just arrived at his estate. Waiting for him was his wife, Florentia Stadtfeld. She was a woman of beauty, having long blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a designer dress and full make-up. As soon as he stepped into the house, she immediately ran towards him and threw her arms on him. "Oh, darling!" She whimpered. "I'm so scared! I can't believe that madman Zero had the nerve to do such a thing!" She then turned to Kallen and Naoto, who were both standing on the stairs. "And our children... they went to watch the execution parade..." The older woman turned to her step-children with a small glare. "Why did you do such a thing? You could've been killed!"

The younger redhead stiffened; 'our children'... like hell she and her brother would ever acknowledge this woman as their mother. No one could ever replace their mother. Naoto remained calm, though in the inside, he also felt disgusted. "But we didn't know that something like this would happen." The older heir countered.

"Don't be silly, Maximus, my darling," Their stepmother said. "You must have realized before that the Elevens would try to rescue Kururugi."

The elder Stadtfeld almost frowned for being called by that name. "Well, Kallen and I are fine, aren't we?" He asked rhetorically and then folded his arms. "Besides, the gas that was released from the canister wasn't poisonous or anything. It was merely a bluff."

"Even so, you could have suffocated from the gas."

"We're fine, as you can see." Kallen deadpanned.

"Of course, dear."

Later, the family of four was seen eating their dinner silently, until the blonde woman spoke. "Tobias, I really want to see my nephews, Castor and Pollux."

After hearing this, Duke Stadtfeld and his two children stopped eating and looked at the woman. Florentia sighed and continued. "Poor children... they have lost three of their favorite siblings, then their mother and now yet another sibling of theirs," She put a spoonful of soup in her mouth. "I just want to make them feel that they're not alone, and that I will always be part of their family."

Tobias knew that his wife cherished her nephews, and he actually can empathize with her. _After Lady Letitia's death, she has been caring more and more about these two boys. _He smiled at her. "I'm sure that they would love to see you again, Florentia," He offered. "However, they became the new Sub-Viceroys of Area 11, and I know they will be very busy."

She sighed. "One visit to their favorite aunt won't hurt."

"Florentia, you're their ONLY aunt," Her husband pointed out before taking a bite from the beef steak in front of him. "And besides, they must take permission from Princess Cornelia before they come for a visit."

Florentia just frowned and then rolled her eyes. "They're big boys now," She stated. "Why do they need permission from the Viceroy so they can visit their aunt?"

"Well, I'm certain that Her Highness will be more protective of them after Prince Clovis's death."

"She's not the only one who's worried sick about them." The blond woman remarked with a hint of anger in her voice.

The two siblings exchanged sideway glances; it seemed to them that their stepmother dislikes or even detests Cornelia for some reason. The patriarch of the Stadtfeld family noticed the tone his wife took. "Florentia, dear, why are you angry at Princess Cornelia?" He asked her calmly. "As you mentioned before, Prince Castor and Prince Pollux have lost three of their siblings who are of course also Princess Cornelia's siblings, and one of them happens to be her only full-blooded sister. And now she lost Prince Clovis as well," He took a sip from his red wine. "She will do everything in her power to protect them from Zero so she won't lose yet another sibling of hers."

"Humph." She huffed before taking another sip from her soup. "She better." She muttered.

All this time, Kallen and Naoto ate their food silently, but remained observant of their stepmother's behavior. Why did she become so aggressive towards Cornelia? Did the Princess do something to her in the past?

* * *

{Ashford Academy, March 28th 2017 ATB}

Lelouch couldn't believe his own eyes. Standing right in front of him or more accurately in front of the entire class was none other than Suzaku Kururugi, his best friend. The brown-haired former Japanese saw the exiled prince and sighed inwardly in relief. "My name is Suzaku Kururugi and I will be studying with you from now on," He gave a small bow and smiled genuinely. "Nice to meet you all."

"Alright, Mr. Kururugi, please take a seat wherever you like." The male teacher told him.

As the Honorary Britannian made his way through the class, whispers began to spread throughout the room. The green-eyed boy sat at the empty table at the end of the class. The students just stared at him like he was a freak, and that angered and disgusted Lelouch. Some of these students happen to be his own friends; Nina had a scared look on her face and Rivalz just stared at him silently. Shirley and Kallen didn't stare because the former was a nice person and the latter was half-Japanese, though they were surprised that a non-Britannian was attending their school.

"Alright, class, pay attention, please." The teacher said, and the students turned to face him.

During the break, the students remained in class. They were talking about Suzaku, and they weren't whispering this time. The young Japanese was packing his books quietly, but he could hear every word they said.

"Wasn't he the guy who killed Prince Clovis?" A male student with short black hair asked. "How could the principal allow a criminal like him in school?!"

"It was Zero who killed the prince, dummy!" A female student with long blue hair retorted.

"A-An Eleven in our s-school..." The mousy green-haired girl said timidly.

"He's an Honorary Britannian." Rivalz pointed out.

"E-Even so, why d-did the principal let an Eleven in the s-school?"

The orangette rolled her eyes. "That's what Gray asked seconds ago," She stated. "And you guys are being paranoid. I'm sure he's not a bad guy when you get to know him." She started to walk towards Suzaku, only to be grabbed by the arm. It was her blue-haired friend, who shook his head.

All this time, the redheaded Stadtfeld was looking at the brown-haired boy in sadness. She may have low opinion of Honorary Britannians, but she didn't like the fact that this guy was being talked about in such a way. That meant that they were insulting the Japanese people, something she hated about Britannians. Also, Suzaku didn't look like a bad guy to her.

The raven-haired former prince stood up and walked to the door. He stopped there and tugged the collar of his uniform. His best friend recognized that move, and the prince headed outside. After about a minute of Lelouch leaving the class, Suzaku followed suit.

All this while, some students have actually seen that little wordless exchange...

* * *

On the rooftop of the academy, the violet-eyed former prince was seen waiting for the arrival of his best friend. The son of the last Prime Minister of Japan opened the door of the rooftop and walked to where the other teenager was standing. The Britannian boy smiled. "It's been seven years since we've last used this signal," He stated. "And you still haven't forgotten it."

"'Meet me at the roof'," The other boy said. "I could never forget this one."

"Considering you were forgetful of most of the signals, I find it surprising that you still remember this one."

"Can you blame me?" The tan-skinned boy asked rhetorically. "You've invented like one hundred signals! It's a good thing I was able to remember at least twenty of them."

"Yeah, the ones that we predominantly use," The Britannian remarked as he folded his arms and closed his eyes. "How are you going to communicate with deaf or mute people if you don't understand sign language?"

"Well, let's just hope that I won't have to communicate with deaf or mute people in the near future." He chuckled sheepishly.

Lelouch flashed a small grin before walking past his friend. "And if you can excuse me for a moment..."

The green-eyed former Japanese blinked as he watched his best friend head towards the closed door of the rooftop and then open it. Two students fell down in front of his friend: One was thin and tall and the other one was chubby and short. Suzaku's eyes widened in worry while Lelouch glared at the boys. "Palmer and Nolan, you do realize that it is rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, don't you?"

Palmer, the thin guy immediately stood up and pointed a finger at the Vice-President, ignoring what he said. "So that's why you're an Eleven Sympathizer!" He exclaimed. "You're friends with an Eleven, and for seven years too!"

Not able to stand these two any longer, the power of Geass flared in Lelouch's left eye. The two bullies' faces went slack. "Please forget you ever saw this. Oh! And also, don't you ever try to bully Suzaku or I will tell the principal."

"Yes." They replied without any vitality.

"Now, please leave us alone."

The two obeyed and walked downstairs. Suzaku watched the whole scene silently. "Is the principal really a scary person?" He asked in worry. "He seemed like a nice person to me..."

Lelouch chuckled as he walked back to his friend. "Principal Ashford isn't a scary person, but he doesn't allow bullying in school or outside of it," He pointed out. "He is indeed a nice person. He's the one who hid my sisters and I here all of these years."

"I see..." He nodded. "So... how are you, Lelouch? And how are Nunnally... and Euphie?" He blushed after mentioning the pink-haired girl.

"We're all doing fine," He replied. "I'm sure that Nunnally and Euphie will be thrilled to see you after all of these years. How about having dinner with us tonight?"

The brown-haired boy smiled happily. "I'd love to, and I'm... glad that you're safe, Lelouch," His face turned serious. "After I woke up in Shinjuku, I was worried that you were assassinated by the Royal Guard."

"That's my line, Suzaku," He told him with a scowl. "You were the one who took the bullet for me, and I thought that you were killed." He shook his head and sighed.

"Well, I'm in one piece as you can see," He chuckled lightly before his face turned serious once more. "But, what about the girl? What happened to her?"

"We got separated from each other as we were running away from the Royal Guard," The Britannian explained. "I don't know what became of her. The military's still after her, right?"

The soldier folded his arms and frowned. "I'm not sure... it seems that only General Bartley and the other high generals are the only ones who know what's really inside the canister."

"General Bartley?" The raven-head repeated. "He was sent back to the homeland as a prisoner, wasn't he?"

"Not yet."

A raven-colored eyebrow was raised in curiosity. "Really? Why is that?"

The other teen shrugged. "I don't know. Probably more interrogation."

The Britannian student nodded. "But how did you get into school?" He inquired curiously. "I mean, I know that the principal is a nice person and all, but even he can't allow non-Britannian students to study in a prestigious academy like Ashford due to the strict rules that prevent them from studying in Britannian schools."

Suzaku just looked at the blue sky as a nice breeze blew, causing his hair to move. "Well, a person of high authority enlisted me in this school as a reward for doing something really good."

_A reward from a person of high authority for doing something really good... _Lelouch thought. _What is this 'something really good' that you've done, Suzaku? And who is this person of high authority who wasn't racist enough to enlist you in Ashford Academy?_

* * *

{Unnamed Art Museum}

The museum was big to say the least. It was filled with portraits and sculptures of different sizes, and they were all well-made and attention-grabbing.

An old man with gray hair wearing green noblemen clothes was seen walking behind Castor rui Britannia. The young prince was looking at different paintings. Some of these portraits were drawn by his late brother Clovis. One small portrait of a hut located in the middle of a forest caught the violet-eyed prince's attention. "Was this drawn by Brother Clovis?"

"Yes indeed, Your Highness."

"It is so simple, yet so beautiful." His eyes glimmered.

"Prince Castor, pardon me for my curiosity, but why didn't Prince Pollux come with you?"

"Brother said that he will be busy with something."

The old nobleman sweat-dropped and rubbed the palms of his hands together. "Princess Cornelia left all the paperwork for you and Prince Pollux to do, I presume?"

"Yes." Came the simple yet someone monotone reply.

Luckily, the man didn't notice the tone of the young prince's voice. "I don't blame her, really," He said. "After that terrorist Zero appeared, she's been busy dispatching the new groups of terrorists that began showing up."

The blue-haired young man didn't say anything and simply walked away, wanting to observe more portraits. The old man ran after Castor. "Wait for me, Your Highness!"

The Thirteenth Prince of Britannia was thankful that this man was gullible and thus failed to read him. He did not approve of what the Second Princess was doing. Why was she avenging their dead brother this way? He was sure that most -if not all- of these factions have no connection to the masked terrorist calling himself Zero. The least she could do was capture them and throw them in jail. There was no need for spilling blood, and since his sister and her forces have far superior Knightmare Frames, much better pilots and more advanced firearms, her battles against would be one-sided... and brutal.

His dark thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone. The teenaged prince took it out and looked at the screen. His violet eyes narrowed at the name of the person calling, but then he smiled happily.

* * *

{Tokyo Settlement Prison}

In a secluded room with security cameras, Kewell Soresi was gagged by the white prison suit that criminals captured by Britannia wore. He was sitting on a chair and his face was bruised. The door then opened, revealing the long-haired, bespectacled man that was accompanying the purple-haired princess. Upon seeing the black-haired man entering, the disgraced member of the Purist Faction's mug turned gleeful, which seemed almost maniacal. "L-Lord Guilford! Y-You came to t-tell me s-something good h-hopefully?"

"Yes," The man named Guilford responded in a callous tone. "Luckily for you, you got demoted three ranks."

"HUH?!" Blue eyes went wide in pure horror.

"And maybe later in your life, you will work in extracting ambers from trees to keep you away from having affairs," The bespectacled man continued; his tone of voice was calm, yet it had some sarcasm lingering in it. "Ambers will not help you in forgetting your previous mistress, and that should be the perfect punishment for someone who let the man who killed Prince Clovis escape."

"NOOOOO!" Came the shout from the now-hysterical man. He began thrashing around in his chair as it fell down and he fell on his right cheek. As if he didn't need anymore bruises, but the pain of this small fall could not compare to the pain of having no one believing him despite telling the truth. Tears gathered in his eyes. "This can't be happening! I'm telling the truth! I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME?!"

"Lord Guilford, please let me take care of this."

The two men inside the secluded room blinked their eyes and turned to the door. It opened and Pollux rui Britannia stepped inside. Guilford frowned. "But Your Highness, leaving you alone with this man is dangerous."

The Twelfth Prince raised an annoyed eyebrow at the older man. Did he mean what he said? "You're aware that he's bound and gagged to a straight jacket," He pointed out. "He can't do anything to me, not after his disgrace," He walked to the fallen man and put the chair back to how it was. "And please tell them to turn off the security cameras."

Guilford's light blue eyes grew big in size, not believing what the young prince was saying but nevertheless, obliged. "As you wish, Your Highness." He went out of the room and closed the door behind him.

After almost a minute, all of the cameras went off. Pollux approached the now-confused soldier, but the confusion soon turned to panic when he saw the blue-haired prince put his hands to his eyes. The yellow irises were actually lenses, and the true color of both of his eyes... are red with a bird symbol in each one of them. "Kewell Soresi, answer my questions truthfully." The symbol of Geass flew from his eyes and into Kewell's, who soon became like an almost dead man. "What or who is Amber?"

"Something that Zero made up in order to make me a traitor."

_I knew it. _"You and the other members of the Purist Faction seem to have panicked when Zero revealed the canister full of colored smoke," The teen pointed out. "Did you think that it contained poisonous gas?"

"Yes."

"But that means you and your comrades have seen it before, correct?"

"Yes."

"Where exactly?"

"In Shinjuku."

Geass irises went wide, stunned. Now, the youth's curiosity was piqued. "How did you find it there?"

"We didn't really find it," Came the monotonous reply. "It was stolen by Eleven terrorists from one of the Britannian Military's laboratories and then they headed with it to Shinjuku."

The security guards and the security system were sloppy, it seems. "And since the canister that Zero showed was a fake one, what happened to the real one?"

"I don't know."

The Elevens would never use it against their own people as it would mean blood bath. That's what Pollux deduced. "But, what did my brother Clovis do in order to retrieve it?"

"He ordered us to kill everyone in the Shinjuku Ghetto and leave no one alive."

Shock was evident in the mug of the youngster. The Geass irises narrowed in horror. Zero probably saw this happen, and maybe that's why he killed his blond brother. But, how could the kind and gentle Clovis do something as heinous as this? Or maybe the kindness and gentleness he showed to him, his brother and some of his their other siblings were just façades? Why would he massacre people for just one canister? Unless...

"Did that canister even contain poison gas?"

"That's what we were told."

Pollux bit his lips in frustration. "Do you know anyone who may know what's really inside that canister?"

"Yes."

"Who?!"

"General Bartley Asprius and some of the high generals who worked directly under the late prince."

_Of course! _Luckily for him, the chubby general wasn't sent back to Britannia yet. He could question him on what's really inside the canister and find out why the heck did his late brother do something like this. He turned off his Geass, and Kewell's senses immediately returned to him.

He blinked his eyes in confusion. "P-Prince Pollux? What d-did you want to ask me?"

"Nothing." He replied before walking away. "And thank you. You may take a rest."

Now, the brown-haired man was even more confused by what was happening. As the young prince went out of the room, he was met by Guilford again. "Your Highness, did you get answers from Kewell?"

"Nothing of interest." Pollux simply answered before walking away.

The bespectacled man frowned; the prince was keeping secrets from him and possibly from Princess Cornelia. But why? He shook his head before entering Kewell's room again, who tensed upon seeing the tall man. "Kewell, what did Prince Pollux ask you?"

"He didn't ask me anything."

The calm expression on the tall soldier's face turned into a furious one. "You dare to lie about this too?!" He shouted angrily. "I just saw the prince and he told me that you didn't give him answers! So, not only did you not give the prince proper answers, but you also deny that he didn't ask you anything!"

"I swear he didn't ask me anything!" The gagged man retorted.

"Liar." The long-haired man said before exiting the room, leaving behind a gagged soldier yelling hysterically.

"Lord Guilford, did you do that to worsen Lord Kewell's mental state, or did you do it because you're suspicious of me?"

Light blue eyes narrowed; the young prince was certainly clever. The soldier bowed his head in shame. "Forgive me, Your Highness," He apologized. "I did not mean such a thing. Any information that may be vital to us must be known by Princess Cornelia."

"Well, I did say that Lord Kewell didn't give me the answers I wanted."

"Maybe, but what are the questions you've asked, Prince Pollux?"

_Cornelia's knight is so persistent it's not even funny! _"I've asked him the usual question about Amber and he gave the same answer to the ones who asked him this very same question."

"And what else?"

"Well, I've asked him about his sister Marika."

Guilford blinked his eyes several times, not quite expecting that. "A-And why is that?"

"I'm actually interested in her." He grinned.

The knight of Cornelia sweat-dropped. _I should have known that. After all, Prince Pollux is infamous for being a womanizer_. The black-haired man cleared his throat. "Pardon me, Your Highness, but it appears that Marika Soresi is already engaged."

"Engaged?" The yellow-eyed boy blinked. "Who is the groom?!"

"I believe it's a man of the noble Steiner family."

"Oh, I see." He scratched the back of his and grinned sheepishly before giggling. "It seems that Lord Kewell forgot to mention that. I'll make sure to remember that." He waved goodbye to his sister's knight before disappearing into an empty room. He sighed in relief; he really didn't want anyone to find out about Geass.

_"Big Brother?"_

_Castor?_

_"Aunt Florentia called, wondering if we can join her for dinner one night."_

Pollux smiled happily; how he loved his aunt. "We'll have to take permission from Cornelia first."

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

"A surprise?" Nunnally asked while tilting her head.

"I love surprises!" Euphemia exclaimed happily.

Lelouch smiled. "Now, both of you, close your eyes."

The brother looked at his best friend and put a finger to his own lips to shush Suzaku. The former Japanese stepped to the living and there he saw the two girls. His green eyes glimmered in happiness; both of them have grown even more beautiful than before, especially Euphie... she became the fairest of them all. He walked towards them and held Nunnally's right hand with his own right one while holding Euphemia's left hand with his own. The sandy-brown-haired girl gasped and the pink-haired one opened her eyes. Their violet irises glimmered in happiness as she tackled the brown-haired boy to the ground. Tears from her eyes fell on the boy's face. "Suzaku... I'm so glad... that we got to see you again..." She whimpered.

The Honorary Britannian rubbed her on her back. "Me too, Euphie... me too..."

The crippled girl also started crying. "I'm glad that you're fine... Suzaku..."

Later on, the four young people were seen eating dinner, chatting happily with each other. The green-eyed teen was impressed with the former Third Princess's cooking, and his complements to her made her blush. "G-Glad you liked it, Suzaku."

"I love it, Euphie," He told her with a sincere smile, but it soon turned into a pout. "I wish I could have dinner with you every night from now on."

"Of course you can!" The former Fourth Princess exclaimed as she took a bite from her steak. "You've become an official student at Ashford, right?"

"Yes, but it's not like that."

The raven-haired boy frowned. "Then what is it about?"

The curly-haired teen sighed. "If people saw us hang out together, they may find out about your identities as former royalties."

"Nonsense," Lelouch said as he drank from his glass of juice. "We've been living here for seven years and no one knew about our identities. I highly doubt that anyone would be able to put the pieces together," He took a bite from his own steak and then swallowed it. "Besides, many people know that the Ashfords have Japanese friends, yet no one complains about that."

"Speaking of the Ashfords, you've told me before that they were supporters of your mother," The Japanese teen stated, folding his arms. "How come Prince Clovis never suspected that they were hiding you?"

The violet-eyed former prince merely shrugged. "Beats me." _But knowing it's Clovis, I shouldn't be surprised that he never suspected Reuben Ashford of hiding us. He wasn't the brightest person around._

"And... aren't they scared of what might happen if the Royal Family knew that they've been hiding you from them?"

"Yes, of course they are," The other young man replied. "But it's the least they could do for my mother after her death, and we owe them so much."

Euphemia sighed loudly. "Enough about us and please tell us about what you're doing now, Suzaku."

"Well, I've been promoted to a Warrant Officer."

The three siblings stopped their eating and stared at their childhood friend. Nunnally grimaced. "You're still working with the military?"

"Well, yes. Is there a problem with that, Nunnally?"

"Not at all," She forced a smile. "I'm happy for you, Suzaku."

"Is it another reward for doing 'something really good'?" The teenaged previous prince asked.

"Yes, but this time, it was from Princess Cornelia."

Upon hearing this, the pink-haired girl dropped her fork and a scowl appeared on the handsome mug of her older half-brother. Suzaku, noticing Euphie's discomfort looked down in shame. "Sorry to have made you upset, Euphie."

"Not at all, Suzaku." She shook her head and smiled in assurance.

_There must be something more to Cornelia promoting Suzaku to another rank, _The thin boy thought. _And Suzaku being a naïve fool who's too trusting of everyone doesn't help matters either._

The full-blooded sister of Lelouch put a hand to her lips. "What's this 'something really good' that you've done, Suzaku?"

"Well, some of the Purists led Lord Kewell into an ambush, and I've interfered in time to save him."

"You saved the man who framed you?!" Nunnally exclaimed in shock.

"Yes."

"That's very noble of you," The pink-haired princess grinned in happiness. "Lelouch was right; you'd make a perfect knight."

The teenaged Japanese put his hand behind the back of his head, blushing bashfully. A small smile appeared on his lips. "T-Thank you, Euphie."

After dinner, the Britannian student walked his friend out of the door, but before the Honorary Britannian left, he stood there with a pout on his face. The violet-eyed teen raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter, Suzaku?"

"Lelouch, please pretend that we're not friends, okay?"

The raven-haired youth rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. It's going to be alright. You worry too much."

"I have a good reason for that, and you're being too easy-going about it!" The other boy yelled in irritation. "I'm not only trying to protect your identities as royalties, but I'm also trying to protect you from a certain someone."

"And that certain someone happens to be none other than Zero, correct?" The taller teen asked with folded arms.

"Yes! He knows that I'm friends with the Britannian royals who were sent here as political hostages seven years ago."

Lelouch's arms immediately dropped and he backed away, feigning shock. "R-Really?"

"Yes, Lelouch."

The thin Britannian put his hand under his chin; his violet eyes were narrowing in worry and sweat was running down his face. "This is bad indeed..."

The green-eyed boy sighed in sadness. "Please, Lelouch. If the students or teachers here find out about your identity as a long-lost prince of Britannia, word could get out and reach Zero."

Again, another pout spread across the Britannian youth's lips. "But news of this could also get out and reach Cornelia, and by extension, the Royal Family," He clenched his right fist tightly. "I would rather die at the hands of Zero than go back to the Royal Family and become a bargaining chip once again."

Forest green eyes narrowed in pure shock at what was heard. Did Lelouch actually say something like this? "Then, what about Nunnally and Euphie?"

"I'm sure that they think the same too," He simply answered, closing his for a brief moment before opening them again. "I will agree on keeping our friendship a secret from everyone here, including my own friends."

Suzaku merely nodded. "Thanks, Lelouch, and good night." He began to walk away from his friends' residence. _I guess I was wrong about Lelouch being Zero..._

* * *

{Ashford Academy, March 29th 2017 ATB}

In one of the hallways of the school, Lelouch was talking on his cellphone with someone. He was standing near a stained-glass window and looking through it. "So, the Blood of the Samurai faction was taken out."

_"Yes, Zero," _The voice on the other end was Naoto's. _"It seems that Cornelia is venting her anger on these powerless people." _He stated with venom and disgust in his voice.

"Yes, she is indeed ruthless in executing her work," The young former prince remarked. "That's how she managed to help Britannia in occupying some Areas. I'm sure you have heard about her campaign in the Middle East, right?"

_"Yes. It became Area 18," _He replied with some annoyance in his voice. _"Zero, you have to be careful from now on. I honestly believe that the reason why Clovis was able to defeat our forces before you came to aid us was because of the advanced KMFs. He was not a strategist or a tactician, and that's why we were able to gain the upper hand before that white Knightmare interfered. But I heard that Cornelia is called 'The Goddess of Victory', and I think her reputation precedes her, so you must be cautious, Zero."_

Lelouch couldn't help but smile in impress; Kallen's brother is quite sharp indeed. "Naoto, your brief analysis on our battle against Clovis's forces amazed me."

_"Thank you."_

"However," The mug of the Britannian teen turned serious. "Do not let a mere alias scare you, Naoto. If I manage to defeat Cornelia, I will surely make everyone in Britannia question that so-called moniker of hers."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment before the redhead spoke again. _"Zero, I know that you're a brilliant strategist, but don't be too arrogant about your abilities," _He advised. _"After all, Pride is the deadliest of all sins."_

The seventeen-year-old rolled his eyes; that's the last thing he needed, being preached by someone. "Thank you for your advice, Naoto," He said. "I'll keep that in mind."

_"You're welcome. What are your plans now, Zero?"_

"For now, I will see what Cornelia's plans are and then make up a strategy."

_"Alright then. I'll keep in touch."_

The former Eleventh Prince of Britannia sighed before looking through the window. What he saw made his violet eyes narrow. He felt his blood boil in his veins, and many negative emotions surge through his body. Suzaku was washing his clothes, but Lelouch could clearly read the racial slurs that were written on them...

* * *

{Lamperouge Residence}

After school hours and during the afternoon, the skinny male Britannian was sitting on a table in the living room to enjoy tea with his precious full-blooded sister. He told her about the mistreatment that their childhood friend has been receiving from the other students. Naturally, she was upset about what she heard. "That's really bad. Aren't you going to do anything to help him?"

"You've heard what he said," He sipped from his cup. "He wants us to pretend that we're not friends, and so I don't think he wants us to help him."

"But you could at least tell the principal."

"I would like to, but I hate snitches and I hate being regarded as one."

He may have told the racist bullies that he will tell the principal about them if they don't stop harassing his best friend, but that was to keep up appearances so Suzaku won't know about Geass.

His crippled sister frowned at him. "But that's the right thing to do!"

"Nunnally's right, Lelouch," Euphemia concurred with her little sister as she entered the living room. "You should tell Principal Ashford about this or I'll go and tell him myself."

"Well then, go and tell him and be a snitch." He told her harshly, glaring at her.

"I don't care if I'm going to be called a snitch by everyone as long as I did something to help a dear friend of mine!" She shouted angrily.

"Meow!"

"Huh?" The two siblings stopped their bickering and looked down to see a dark gray cat with a black spot on its right eye.

"How did this cat get inside?" The crippled princess asked.

"The door was open." Lelouch replied.

The girl with the pink hair took an immediate fondness of the stray cat. She knelt down and held him up. "What a cute kitty-cat," She cooed before seeing the wrapped bandage on its right paw. "Does the kitty-cat's paw hurt?" She nuzzled her cheek on the cat's.

"Euphie, you really don't want to do that," Her brother warned. "What if its fleas got into your hair?"

The sixteen-year-old pouted at her brother. "You're being such a worrywart."

He sighed and palmed his face before looking at the cat again. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. "I got an idea!"

"Huh?" His two sisters looked at him in confusion.

* * *

{Student Council Clubhouse}

"What?!" Milly exclaimed with wide eyes. "A stray cat snuck into your room and stole a pendant of yours?!"

Euphemia sighed and then poked her fingers in embarrassment. "It's my fault for leaving the window open."

The female president of the Student Council grinned mischievously, and Euphie couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Lelouch, who was also there sweat-dropped. _I know that Prez would pull off something, but it's for the sake of the plan's success. So please, Euphie, bear it with me._

"No problem!" The blonde bombshell exclaimed with her hands on her hips; her grin grew even bigger. "Just leave it to me!" She walked away from them.

"I got a bad feeling about this, Lelouch." She sunk in depression.

"If you're willing to do anything to help Suzaku, then you should endure whatever the president will throw at you."

The teenaged girl folded her arms and puffed her cheeks childishly. Suddenly, they heard the sound of microphone. "Testing, testing." The voice of the Ashford heiress was heard. "Attention, everyone! Euphemia Lamperouge's pendant was stolen by a cat! It's gray in color with a black spot on its right eye. Whoever finds the cat first will get a kiss from one of our Student Council's members as a reward!"

The Britannian male's mouth hung open dumbly; he did not see that coming. _Why do the other members have to get involved in this as well?! _He then sighed in irritation; he should have expected something like this from the she-devil of Ashford Academy. He knows that almost every girl in the academy has a crush on him, and the consequences won't be what he had hoped for if one of them caught the stray cat.

The sixteen-year-old wore a smug smirk on her face. _If I'm going to endure the Prez's antics, then you'll have to too, dear brother._

* * *

The school was in chaos. No, that wasn't the right word to describe what was going on in Ashford at that moment. The school was in mayhem after every student heard the proposal of the president of the Student Council. Many girls squealed in glee and began fangirling over the idea of kissing Lelouch, while guys were fantasizing about kissing Kallen, Shirley and Milly. The poor orange-haired girl fell from the high ramp and into the pool during one of her swimming activities. The bespectacled girl Nina just remained in the clubhouse working on something on her computer; she knew that no one wants to kiss her... As for the blue-haired boy, he got on his motorbike and sped through the school to find the cat. The redheaded girl ran away from the male members of different clubs of the academy.

"I don't believe this!" Shouted Kallen. "How could Euphemia lose her pendant to a cat?!" She huffed.

Then suddenly bumped into someone. It turned to be none other than Shirley... who was wearing a blue swimsuit. The half-Britannian's blue eyes widened at her friend's appearance. "Shirley, why are you dressed up like that?!"

"I ran away from the swim club and didn't have enough time to change my clothes." She replied in embarrassment.

"Oh dear. Here." The other girl took off her yellow jacket and gave it to her friend. "Not only will guys ogle you, but you'll also catch cold."

"Thanks, Kallen." She smiled as she wore her friends jacket. "Um, if you managed to catch the cat, will you kiss Lulu?"

"Huh?!" Blue eyes grew big in size. "What m-makes you say that? I don't want to kiss anyone!" She folded her arms and looked away in a tsundere-like manner.

* * *

Both Lelouch and Euphemia saw the cat running and immediately sped after it. On their way, they coincidently bumped into their childhood friend, Suzaku. "Lelouch, Euphie." He smiled at them. "Don't worry; I'll catch the cat for you, Euphie."

She held her hands together and her eyes glimmered in happiness. "Suzaku..."

"Over there! The cat's near the bell of the chapel!" They heard a male student shout.

They looked at the chapel and saw the cat with a cherry blossom pendant around its neck. The raven-haired boy looked at his friend with a grin. "Are you the same exercise nut from seven years ago?"

"Do you have to ask?" The former Japanese replied before running to the chapel.

"Go, Suzaku!" The girl cheered before turning to her brother. "I have to admit, Lelouch. Your plan was a gamble, but it's heading towards the wanted goal."

"You know that your brother loves to gamble." He told her with a smirk.

She shook her head at him before running towards the gathering students and joining them along with her brother. The cat now jumped on the roof, but the curly-haired boy also did the same and managed to grab the cat. Before he could get back to the bell, he slipped and slid down the roof while holding the cat in his hands. The students gasped as he grabbed the edge of the roof with his right hand, but he won't hold up for long. Lelouch and Euphemia pushed their way through the crowd and to the front. The seventeen-year-old Britannian boy was gritting his teeth in frustration while his sister was clamping her hands on her mouth and watching with eye narrowing in horror. Eventually, their friend's hand slipped, and the both of them rushed to their friend's aid by jumping to catch their friend. "SUZAKU!"

The former Japanese landed in the hands of his two friends, and dust gathered as a result of that. Every student became silent after seeing that, but as the dust cleared, they saw the three students. They were covered in mild bruises, but fortunately, none of them suffered from serious injuries, especially the one who fell down. Shirley, Rivalz and Milly rushed to the three students to help them up.

"Are you guys alright?!" The orange-haired girl asked in deep concern.

"Y-Yes, Shirley. Thank you for asking." The former Britannian princess said.

"That's a relief." The older girl sighed before looking at the brown-haired youngster with a genuine smile. "Thank you for catching the cat and getting Euphie's pendant back."

The green-eyes of Suzaku blinked before smiling back. "You're welcome."

The blue-haired boy walked to the taller Japanese boy and patted him on the back. "You're not bad, new student!"

The redheaded female student blinked her eyes. Was Lelouch a friend of Suzaku? Is that why he risked his, her, her brother and Ohgi's lives in order to save him? And yet, the ungrateful idiot didn't join him. "Are you friends?"

The boys along with the sixteen-year-old girl looked at Kallen silently. Surprisingly, Lelouch was the one who spoke up. "Yes. Suzaku is my, Nunnally and Euphemia's childhood friend."

The gathering students gasped in shock. The girl with the glasses began trembling; how is this possible? How could the Vice-President and his sisters be friends with a lowly Eleven?! That doesn't make any sense!

"Prez, I want Suzaku to join our Student Council," The raven-haired boy requested. "The rules of the academy state that every student must be in at least one of the clubs."

The bombshell of the Student Council put her hand under her chin in thought before grinning. "Of course! Welcome aboard, Suzaku!"

"Thank you," He smiled happily at her. He then took off the cherry blossom pendant from the cat and gave it to Euphie. "Here you go, Euphie."

She took the pendant and then planted a small kiss on the athletic boy's right cheek, causing him to blush in surprise and for the whole school to gasp. She giggled at him. "This is your reward for getting my pendant back."

Many male students were seething, feeling jealous that a pretty and popular girl like Euphemia was in love with a disgusting Eleven. The president poked the teen heartthrob of Ashford Academy in his side. "You don't mind Euphemia being with Suzaku?" She asked him. "Because I see many guys glaring daggers at him."

He merely folded his arms. "Well, it's not like these daggers could stab him," He commented nonchalantly. "None of them isn't and never will become half the man Suzaku is."

She grinned mischievously. "You know, for someone who doesn't want to be shipped with anyone, you are quite the shipper on deck yourself."

He sighed in annoyance. Suzaku, Euphemia, be prepared for Milly's teasing comments.

* * *

{Government Bureau}

In the main room, the Second Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire was sitting on a pseudo-throne with two others on either sides of hers. Before her were Guilford and the large, scarred man. "We took down several rebel factions, but none of them seem to be harboring Zero." The bespectacled man said.

"It's the best decision to do," The blond man stated. "He knows that Princess Cornelia is after him specifically, and so he's laying low for the time being."

"He is a coward, Darlton," The princess spat with venom in her voice. "If he is truly a man, he would come out and fight me!" She then leaned back in her chair. "Where are my brothers?"

"Prince Pollux and Prince Castor are taking care of the paperwork." The black-haired man responded.

Cornelia nodded and then sighed. "I suppose I should help them in finishing the paperwork before initiating my next operation."

"When and where will you hold it?" Darlton asked.

"In Saitama," She answered. "I will lure him out of the rat's hole he's hiding in and then finish him off. But before that, I must know the face of the man who have boldly dared to challenge the might of the Holy Britannian Empire."

The blue-eyed man frowned. "Zero does seem to be quite the resourceful opponent," He commented. "I believe that he will know that it's an ambush you're laying out, Your Highness."

"It's still worth a shot," The purple-haired woman stood up as an evil smile appeared on her lips. "I don't trust Kururugi, but I want him to help me in this operation."

The two men exchanged looks of shock before aiming it at their princess. "Is that wise, Your Highness?!" Guilford protested.

"I don't think Zero or the rebel factions in Saitama have the firepower that could even rival our Sutherlands, so why do you need the Lancelot in this operation?!"

"Besides, Kururugi may have sworn his loyalty to Britannia, but that doesn't mean he will agree on killing the Eleven terrorists!" The glasses-wearing man shouted. "He may not agree with them, but they are still his people."

"Relax, you two," She casually dismissed their arguments. "Kururugi doesn't need to know that we're setting out an ambush to lure Zero out. We will just tell him that Zero had been sighted in Saitama and we need his help."

"But will he believe that?" The large man asked.

"He seems to be naïve and too trusting of people, so I do believe that he will help us without hesitation." A grin appeared on her face.

**TBC...**

* * *

**Nurufufufufufu~!**

**Sorry for the very long delay. Let me tell you the reasons for that. I did the second tests in December, the finals in January, travelled to Thailand and stayed there for two weeks during the spring break, the second semester started, swamped by tests and finally, assignments and homeworks. And the week after this, I have the second tests.**

**I decided to post this chapter on the first anniversary of the publishing of this story. Nine chapters in one year... yeah...**

**This is probably the longest chapter yet, and because of that, the cat chase was shortened and made less funny than the canon one. Sorry. Also, nobody expected that Cornelia would ask Suzaku to help her in Saitama, right? Yup. Because we all want Lelouch to win no matter what. Well, honestly, I'm glad that he was defeated in Saitama in canon because this loss made him open his eyes and realize that Cornelia is a more formidable opponent than Clovis. This loss taught him to not underestimate his opponents, and I liked that. So... yeah... *Scratches head nervously***

**You will notice that I've changed the dates to March. I also did that to the previous chapters because that's what it says on the wiki. Unbelievable. When I checked last time, it was written that the events took place during August. Not only that, but they've also added new information on Pollux and Castor, information that contradicts with mine like their ages and their mother's name.**

**Did you enjoy this chapter? Hopefully you did. Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you would.**

**Also, do you know whose laugh is the one above? I actually like it so much XD**


	10. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

*Sigh* I know that many of you were disappointed when you saw that the notification of a new chapter of this story was nothing but an author's note, and I believe that you're even more disappointed because you've deduced that I posted this to say I'm discontinuing this story... which is true.

Honestly, this story was nothing more than a plot bunny, which I seem to be getting frequently ever since I've stumbled on years ago. Now, I find myself unable to have any idea about how I'll continue this story. Writer's block is real; university work is real and other life matters are real.

For my other CG story, I managed to continue it despite it being on hiatus since the end of 2015, and the first time I've published the chapter was in the middle of February this year. And right now, I'm working on the fourth chapter. But for this story, I can't seem to find the will to continue it, and I don't have ideas either.

So, this story is my first attempt at writing a CG story. I will leave it here so readers could enjoy it... and now... I'm having another plot bunny of a CG story. *shakes head* Should I write it or shouldn't I?

Anyway, thanks for supporting this story. Much appreciated. Hopefully I won't have to discontinue my current CG Time-Travel fanfic or any future works for that matter.

Thanks again! Bye-bye!


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